Extended Range Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (Rural, Remote and Borders)

*Please note the ISC Website will be available on September 19, 2024 at 10:30 EDT

*AMENDMENT 001 - An attachment has been added. The document contains questions and answers related to the Challenge.
*AMENDMENT 002 - This challenge is extended and is now closing on November 7th, 2024 at 2:00PM EST
*AMENDMENT 003 - An attachment has been added. The document contains questions and answers related to the Challenge.

This Challenge Notice is issued under the Innovative Solutions Canada Program (ISC) Call for Proposals 004 (EN578-24ISC4). For general ISC information, Bidders can visit the ISC website: https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/innovative-solutions-canada/en
Please refer to the Solicitation Documents (https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/tender-opportunities/tender-notice/cb-3…) which contain the process for submitting a proposal.

Here are a few things you need to know before you get started on your application to this challenge:
1. This challenge is only open to receive proposals for Phase 1 (Proof of Feasibility) of our Challenge Stream. Proposed solutions that fall within technology readiness levels (TRL) 1-4 (https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/innovative-solutions-canada/en/isc-tec…) can be submitted to this challenge
2. We recently made changes to the Challenge Stream, we have outlined the new parameters here: https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/innovative-solutions-canada/en/challen…

Steps to apply:
Step 1: read this challenge
Step 2: read the Call for Proposals : https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/tender-opportunities/tender-notice/cb-3…
Step 3: propose your solution here : https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/innovative-solutions-canada/en/extende…

Challenge sponsor: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

Funding mechanism: Contract

Multiple contracts could result from this Challenge.

Phase 1:

•The maximum funding available for any Phase 1 contract resulting from this Challenge is : $300,000.00 CAD excluding applicable taxes, shipping, travel and living expenses, as required.
•The maximum duration for any Phase 1 contract resulting from this Challenge is up to 6 months (excluding submission of the final report).
•Estimated number of Phase 1 contracts: 2

Phase 2:

Note: Only eligible businesses that have successfully completed Phase 1 will be invited to submit a proposal for Phase 2.
•The maximum funding available for any Phase 2 contract resulting from this Challenge is : $1,000,000.00 CAD excluding applicable taxes, shipping, travel and living expenses, as required.
•The maximum duration for any Phase 2 contract resulting from this Challenge is up to 12 months (excluding submission of the final report).
•Estimated number of Phase 2 contracts: 1

This disclosure is made in good faith and does not commit Canada to award any contract for the total approximate funding. Final decisions on the number of Phase 1 and Phase 2 awards will be made by Canada on the basis of factors such as evaluation results, departmental priorities and availability of funds. Canada reserves the right to make partial awards and to negotiate project scope changes.

Note: Selected companies are eligible to receive one contract per phase per challenge.

Travel
The Bidder may be required to travel to a pre-determined remote testing site in Alberta (depending on their location).

Kick-off meeting
All communication will take place by telephone or video conference.

Progress review meeting(s)
Any progress review meetings will be conducted by telephone or video conference.

Final review meeting
All communication will take place by telephone or video conference.

Problem statement

RCMP operational members often serve rural communities and their jurisdictions cover very large territories. Having Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) technology that can travel at high speed over long distances would help increase police and public safety by arriving first on scene, retrieving as much information as possible and relaying it to emergency service personnel on their way.

This technology would be particularly useful in search and rescue operations, and responding to emergency calls or natural disasters, where time is of the essence. RPAS can fly direct to location, alleviating any traffic or ground roadblocks, thus enhancing response time.

Desired outcomes and considerations

Essential (mandatory) outcomes
The proposed solution must:

1. Have a maximum take-off weight less than 150 kg
2. Be able to operate in sustained winds up to 80 km/h and gusts to 100 km/h
3. Be able to operate in temperatures ranging from -30° C to +45° C
4. Be able to fly in light rain, snow, and icy conditions
5. Have an airspeed capability of 100 km/h
6. Have an advanced automatic navigation and flight control system to operate effectively without constant manual intervention
7. Be capable of flying a minimum of 400 km within a single flight
8. Be capable of at least five hours of continuous flight at any loiter speed
9. Be able to carry various payloads, including high-resolution cameras, thermal imaging equipment, and possibly other lightweight sensors
10. Be able to meet all core IT security requirements for the RCMP, including:
a. Implementing data encryption at rest and in-transit following ITSP.40.111 (https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/cryptographic-algorithms-unclassifi…)
b. Implementing encryption in RPAS control communications following ITSP.40.111 (https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/cryptographic-algorithms-unclassifi…)
c. Storing and processing data within the geographic boundaries of Canada
d. Using a cloud service provider for backend services that has been assessed as part of the Government of Canada Cloud Framework Agreements
(https://hosting-services-hebergement.canada.ca/s/gc-cloud-fa-catalogue?…)
11. Be able to take off and land vertically (VTOL)

Additional outcomes
The proposed solution should:

1. Ideally, have a maximum takeoff weight of 25kg
2. Automatically maintain a consistent altitude relative to the ground over mountainous terrain
3. Be able to operate at an ideal altitude of 400 feet Above Ground Level (AGL), but be capable of operating up to 700 feet AGL
4. Be able to detect motion automatically and send an alert (i.e. detect, assess, track, and identify car-sized vehicles and persons from a distance of at
least 1000 meters)
5. Be equipped with secure and reliable real-time data transmission capabilities to stream live video feeds and other sensor data to ground control
stations for immediate analysis and response, even in remote and rural areas
6. Be able to capture high-resolution video/images, with date and location information
7. Be compatible with the Tactical Awareness Kit (https://tak.gov/)
8. Be able to meet the following additional core IT security requirements for the RCMP:
a. Sourcing software and hardware components with awareness of the Supply Chain Integrity process ITSAP.10.070 (https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/cyber-supply-chain-approach-assessi…)
b. Supporting patch management through RCMP automated and controlled firmware and software updates

Background and context

The RCMP uses commercial off-the shelf RPAS for a variety of different applications (https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/remotely-piloted-aircraft-system-rpas-pro…). For example, an officer on shift can deploy an RPAS at a call for service if the officer feels the RPAS can enhance situational awareness or provide investigative value. Yet, while RPAS is effective in municipal settings, there is a need to further develop RPAS to be used in rural and remote settings with BVLOS capability and extended range capability.

Here are various examples where an RPAS solution would help support police work in remote areas:
•An armed robbery occurs at a remote location with suspects fleeing the scene on foot or in a vehicle; RPAS can assist in locating the suspects.
•During a break and enter in progress, RPAS can attend the scene to record the act in progress and provide updates to responding officers of identified risks to public and officers. In addition to providing real time updates of location of suspects if they depart the scene prior to the ground response arrival.
•Ground pursuit of vehicles increases the risk to the safety of the public; air observations of the vehicle until it comes to a stop in a safe location for intercept by ground units greatly reduces the risk to the public.

The RCMP would like to explore a RPAS solution that would act as air support to the event to allow a timely response.

For the challenge at hand, the RCMP is seeking the Bidder to adapt or develop an extended range RPAS solution, capable of supporting policing operations in rural and remote Canadian environments. The RCMP is challenging industry to design an RPAS solution that is reasonably affordable and capable of enhancing police and public safety for all communities served by the RCMP.