Unmanned carrier-based aircraft market research for the U.S. Navy

The Portfolio Acquisition Executive (Aviation), PAE(A), is issuing this Sources Sought notice to conduct market research and identify potential industry sources capable of designing, developing, prototyping, manufacturing, and fielding next-generation Unmanned Carrier-Based Aircraft as part of the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) Air Wing of the Future (AWOTF) Family of Systems (FoS) strategy aligned with the Golden Fleet initiative. Existing FoS efforts include MQ-25A and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). PAE Aviation is exploring the industrial base's capacity to deliver highly capable, autonomous platforms optimized for operations from Ford-class and Nimitz-class Nuclear Aircraft Carriers (CVN). The Government is seeking concepts, with both technical and programmatic information, for air vehicle and mission systems capable of executing FoS missions from the CVN highlighted in Section 1.0, either as a single-role platform, a multi-role platform, or a modular FoS. The information will inform future requirements, investments, and acquisition decisions aligned with the Navy unmanned strategy.

Interested parties are requested to submit a response in accordance with the attached document, "Unmanned Strategy Sources Sought." Responses shall be submitted electronically to the USN NAS Patuxent Mailbox at usn.patuxent.comnavairsyscompax.mbx.fcdi-marketplace@us.navy.mil, carbon copying (CC) the designated Contract Specialist, Samantha Moore, samantha.c.moore11.civ@us.navy.mil. All responses shall be submitted no later than 5:00 PM EST, 13 August 2026. The submission is limited to 10 pages, using Times New Roman 12-point font and single spacing. Accompanying PowerPoint presentations are welcome, not to exceed 20 slides with no videos. All information submitted should be unclassified.