Leased Unmanned Systems Providing Flexible ISR For Special Operators.

• Author: Machi, Vivienne
• Position: Small Unit Dominance

For over half a decade, Special Operations Command has employed unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets through an atypical program for the Defense Department.

Contractors rent out their aircraft to small units, but maintain full control of the systems in what are known as company-owned/company-operated ISR services. Though companies suffered growing pains in the beginning, industry executives said such arrangements have become a valuable and productive way of providing crucial services to SOCOM and other defense agencies with tight budgets and rapid technology turnover.

In June 2017, the command awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts to Insitu Defense, Textron Systems and Arcturus UAV as part of the the mid-endurance unmanned aircraft system III--or MEUAS--program, a follow-on to the MEUAS II contract awarded in 2012. Through the contract, which has a cost ceiling of $475 million over 54 months, each company provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services via their platforms, said David Phillips, vice president of small- and medium-endurance unmanned aircraft systems for Textron.

This arrangement provides SOCOM with "an organic capability... without necessitating them to go buy a system," Phillips told National Defense. "In some cases, they will buy assets, but in unmanned aircraft systems, they pretty much said, ... 'We don't want to own them; we want to be able to change requirements every several years as opposed to having to deal with obsolescence.'"

Insitu, a non-integrated subsidiary of Boeing, helped to pioneer the company-owned/company-operated model for ISR services in the early 2000s, said Don Williamson, vice president and general manager of Insitu Defense. The company currently provides its RQ-21A Blackjack system to the Marine Corps under a program of record, and the ScanEagle platform to SOCOM under the MEUAS III contract, he said.

Textron provides its Aerosonde small unmanned aerial system to Special Operations Command under the contract. Arcturus UAV did not respond to requests for comment.

The model works well for unmanned systems for use by small units, Williamson noted. "The technology changes so fast that... it can really be an advantage not to have to invest in the platforms and just let industry set the pace of the technology maturation," he added. Once a task order is awarded, the contractor will send out a team to operate the system within the unit, he noted.

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