Strategic Remotely Piloted Aircraft System managed service for the Home Office

The Clandestine Channel Threat Command (CCTC) leads the overall response to clandestine entry to the UK. It is tasked with ending the viability of the small boats route as a means of entering the UK and with preventing other forms of high-risk clandestine entry. The overarching requirement is that the strategic RPAS service must be safe and lawful to operate in UK airspace from UK airfields. As such, the people, platform, and wider system must have full regulatory approval to operate in the UK. This requirement will need to be delivered via a managed service that provides an enduring airframe operational capability. The requirement for RPAS platforms, rather than manned aircraft, is a product of both the known utility of these systems, and a parallel requirement to utilise the platform for future Operational Experimentation with partner agencies to explore the potential to expand these technologies into other operational domains. Aerial surveillance is required as part of a wider Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance package to support decision making and the tasking and coordination of operational assets; and to collect high-quality footage of criminality to support potential prosecutions. The minimum criteria for the managed service are: 1) Must meet all regulatory requirements (CAA, OFCOM, etc) and be capable of flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS); 2) Must be capable of reliably detecting, identifying, and classifying a broad range of targets during day and night operations, in varying weather conditions, over a wide area, in the maritime environment. This includes the detection of people, vehicles, and vessels; 3) Must be fitted with detect and avoid capability acceptable to CAA to facilitate operations in unsegregated airspace where necessary. 4) Must have the ability to record high-quality full motion video (FMV) to support criminal justice proceedings; 5) Must have the ability to move rapidly between tracks of interest (>90kmh); 6) A live FMV down