High-Efficiency Expeditionary Group 2 and Group 3 VTOL UAS for Long-Range Distributed ISR/SOF Operations
| Agency | Department of War (DoD) |
|---|---|
| Branch | USAF |
| Program | SBIR |
| Phase | Phase I/II |
| Topic number | DAF27BZ02-DV018 |
| Solicitation | 27.BZ |
| Status | pre-release |
| Released | November 4, 2026 |
| Opens | December 2, 2026 |
| Closes | January 6, 2027 |
Summary
Runway independence provides substantial operational flexibility for ISR/SOF missions but creates significant technical penalties in aircraft weight, propulsion complexity, energy consumption, endurance, payload, reliability, and cost. The research challenge is to minimize these penalties while enabling a persistent, expeditionary autonomous aircraft capable of operating from austere and distributed locations.
Source: the official topic page on SBIR.gov. Read it, and the solicitation, for the full requirements and the exact deadline.