Air Force Global Strike Command is looking for help to protect its infrastructure from personal drones. The command, on April 11, released a request for proposals to industry for counter unmanned aircraft systems, looking for portable ways to detect drones and their command and control ground stations to defeat them. The RFP calls for a small, portable system less than six pounds that “must disrupt or manage the control link between a commercial UAS and the pilot,” the RFP’s statement of work states. The command wants a handled device “like a rifle or large handgun” to take out the drones, according to information with the RFP. There is an urgent need for the response, meaning contractors only have until May 11 to respond to the request.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.