Notice

Protecting Physical Assets from UAS Attack: Competition Document

Published 17 April 2024

1. Introduction: Countering kinetic UAS attacks

This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition is seeking proposals that enhance physical defensive countermeasures which can be used to mitigate a Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) kinetic attack. The Counter UAS (C-UAS) technology market currently focuses on targeting the UAS in flight. The competition aims to shift away from conventional C-UAS methods and instead explores the most effective ways to physically safeguard various assets from hostile UAS. This includes options for hardening the asset, providing blanket last ditch defence and deploying automated alerts for incoming hostile UAVs.

This competition is funded by the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), the Home Office and Dstl.

2. Competition key information

2.1 Submission deadline

12:00 Midday on 13 June 2024 (BST)

2.2 Where do I submit my proposal?

Via the DASA Online Submission Service for which you will require an account. Only proposals submitted through the DASA Online Submission Service will be accepted.

2.3 Total funding available

The total possible funding available for all successful bids in this competition is £750,000 (excluding VAT). Individual proposals must be for an amount less than £150,000.

A number of proposals may be funded.

3. Supporting events

3.1 Dial-in sessions

2 May 2024 – a dial-in session providing further detail on the problem space and a chance to ask questions in an open forum. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page.

9 May 2024 – A series of 10 minute one-to-one teleconference sessions, giving you the opportunity to ask specific questions. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page. Booking is on a first come first served basis.

Please review this competition document, and supporting documentation, thoroughly before booking an appointment as it may answer your question

4. Competition Scope

4.1 Background: The last line of defence

The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how vulnerable a wide range of military and civilian assets can be to UAS being used as part of a kinetic attack. The conflict has therefore seen widespread deployment of C-UAS capabilities, such as Detect, Track, and Identify (DTI) technologies, as well as electronic or kinetic effectors to stop a UAS in flight.

The widespread use of UAS has demonstrated three main limitations in the deployments of C-UAS technologies:

1. the technologies are not always located in the right place to prevent a UAS attack
2. the difficulty of maintaining a cohort of trained personnel who are also located in the right place to prevent a UAS attack
3. the technology doesn’t fully mitigate the ever-developing UAS capabilities and tactics deployed to circumvent these technologies.

These factors highlight the need to go back to basics and underpin C-UAS technology with physical last ditch security countermeasures which can mitigate the effects of a kinetic UAS attack. The C-UAS technology market currently focuses on targeting the UAS in flight; an outer line of defence. This competition complements this work by concentrating on how best to protect an asset from an air raid by hostile UAS, including scenarios where the outer line of defense is breached or absent.

These measures will be the last line of defence when all other mitigations have proven ineffective. It is anticipated that these physical security countermeasures will provide a vital role in protecting critical assets and infrastructure around the UK, and also have a military application for protecting assets overseas.

The importance of protective security and the need to strengthen this aspect of the UK’s C-UAS mitigation toolkit is a key focus for government. For more information on the C-UAS approach taken by government, the 2019 UK Counter-Uncrewed Aircraft Strategy can be found here and the refreshed UK Drone Security strategy is expected to be released mid 2024. This competition will address near term requirements as well as developing an understanding of potential future options and needs in this growing capability area.

4.2 Scope: Threat mitigation

Home Office, NPSA and Dstl are inviting industry to leverage novel physical protective countermeasures that can be utilised to reduce, or completely mitigate, the threat posed by one or more UAS being used as a weapon to fly into an asset and/or drop an explosive payload onto an asset.

The size of the protected asset can range from a single person through to a vehicle or a large building. Proposals need to outline the expected protection envelop from their proposed solutions in order to allow the authority to scope the proposal against a range of end use cases within three scenarios.  The scenarios will be delivered as Government Furnished Information (GFI) and will cover:

• Scenario 1: Protection of a permanent asset (static)
• Scenario 2: Protection of a temporary asset (static)
• Scenario 3: Protection of an asset on the move

A range of successful bids will be supported to provide proof-of-concept trials, based upon the three scenarios, demonstrating the ability of the working design to protect an asset from an inbound UAS air raid. The competition is seeking a range of proposals:

1. that produce evidence of a working design that has been validated in a recognised laboratory or a relevant environment to TRL 4 or 5. The competition welcomes proposals that outline an innovative approach to re-using existing products that have been designed for other industries, which may not have been tested to date, but which could be applied to the C-UAS protective security measures.
2. relating to countermeasures designed to provide a degree of protection to assets from a range of kinetic energy threats realistically capable of being delivered by known threat and potential threat UAVs.
3. where countermeasures are covertly deployed, or deployable in a discreet manner (i.e. to avoid detection by aerial surveillance). If the countermeasure is not  preinstalled, it must be rapidly and remotely deployable on command.

4.3 What kinds of innovations or ideas can proposals be based upon?

A variety of physical defensive approaches have been employed in the recent past to counter UAS attacks against both mobile assets and fixed installations. In recent conflicts, for example, protective canopies have been used to reduce the effect of UAS strikes/munition drops for assets on the move.  The issue with such approaches is that they can be seen by opposing forces who can then plan and adopt alternative attack approaches to counter them.  This competition seeks to move us beyond such limitations by introducing innovative approaches where protective capability can be deployed in a covert or discreet manner and activated automatically, where necessary, at the point of need.

4.4 What should the technology components achieve and what should be avoided?

As a minimum, the system needs to be rapidly deployable either by an operator or automatically as the last line of defence to protect an asset. However, the ideal system should be capable of passive deployment without the need for human intervention. Either way, the system may require a degree of early warning which could come from an existing UAS Detect, Track and Identify technology.

Out of scope ideas for this competition include established off the shelf technology which looks to directly interdict the air vehicle either;

1. Electronically i.e. to jam, take control, or spoof the command link or GNSS of a UAS.
2. or by using an active kinetic effect on the drone (i.e. high intensity lasers, EMPs, ammunition, etc.)

5. Competition Challenges

The competition has two challenges which aim to address the increasing threat against the security of UK military forces at home and abroad, as well as civilian assets, VIPs and the wider public. We are looking for responses that will contribute to solutions to at least one of the two challenges below.

5.1 Challenge 1: Protecting a static asset

This challenge is focused on providing protection to temporarily static or permanently fixed assets from hostile UAS, including assets that are either important to the functioning of a site or may pose a hazard to life or other assets if targeted in an attack.

An example scenario might include providing last ditch protection to pressurised fuel supply or storage systems at a refuelling station within Critical National Infrastructure against a hostile Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) carrying an explosive, where primary C-UAS systems have proven ineffective.

The solution should be deployable in a covert manner, easily hidden or masked so that basic reconnaissance will not result in the threat actor redirecting a mission to avoid the physical countermeasures deployed.  An ideal solution should be rapidly deployable by a remote operator if there is a credible UAS threat inbound. 

For temporary assets, the solution needs to be easily redeployable, i.e. portable or semi-portable, so that it can be easily moved if the asset changes location or as the threat changes.

5.2 Challenge 2: Protecting an asset on the move

This challenge is focused on providing protection from hostile UAS to a moving asset. This might include a land or maritime vehicle, convoy of vehicles, or a person.

A typical example might include providing last resort protection to a protected person in a moving vehicle against an attack from a UAV, or protecting an asset in transport which may pose a hazard to life or other assets should it be subjected to an attack.

Such systems need to be fully portable rather than easily deployable so that they can be moved with the asset as it changes location or as the threat changes, as well as rapidly deployable/initiated remotely to protect the asset as the last line of defence if there is a credible UAS threat inbound. 

We need a solution that can be deployable in a covert manner, easily hidden or masked so that basic reconnaissance will not result in the threat actor redirecting a mission to avoid the physical countermeasures deployed.

5.3 We are interested in…

We want novel ideas to benefit end-users working in UK Defence and Security. Your proposal should include evidence of:

• methods of robustly denying current and next generation drones from kinetic attacks against a range of assets
• solutions against threats from different sized UAS, with varying payload capabilities
• solutions that can protect a range of asset sizes
• low cost solutions
• limited training and operator burden
• working designs at at least TRL 4 or 5
• TRL 8 or 9 solutions which have been designed for other industries, which have not yet been tested for, but are expected could be applied to, the C-UAS market
• theoretical development, method of advancement or proof of concept research which can demonstrate potential for translation to practical demonstration in later phases
• innovation or a creative approach
• clear demonstration of how the proposed work applies to any defence and security context

5.4 We are not interested in…

We are not interested in proposals that:

• are too complex for non-specialist operators, need highly trained technical operators, are expensive, or cannot be scaled
• constitute consultancy, paper-based studies or literature reviews which just summarise the existing literature without any view of future innovation
• are an unsolicited resubmission of a previous DASA bid
• offer demonstrations of off-the-shelf products requiring no experimental development (unless applied in a novel way to the challenge)
• offer no real long-term prospect of integration into defence and security capabilities
• offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions

6. Accelerating and exploiting your innovation

It is important that over the lifetime of DASA competitions, ideas are matured and accelerated towards appropriate end-users to enhance capability. How long this takes will depend on the nature and starting point of the innovation.

6.1 A clear route for exploitation

For DASA to consider routes for exploitation, ensure your deliverables are designed with the aim of making it as easy as possible for collaborators/stakeholders to identify the innovative elements of your proposal.

Whilst DASA recognises that early identification and engagement with potential end users during the competition and subsequent phases are essential to implementing an exploitation plan, during the competition phase all correspondence must be via the DASA helpdesk (accelerator@dstl.gov.uk), or your local Innovation Partner.

All proposals to DASA should articulate the expected development in technology maturity of the potential solution over the lifetime of the contract and how this relates to improved capability against the current known (or presumed) baseline.

6.2 How to outline your exploitation plan

Should your solution be accepted, you should note that  higher technology maturity will be expected in subsequent phases. This should be demonstrated in your exploitation plans. You should therefore include:

• The intended defence or security users of your final product and whether you have previously engaged with them, their procurement arm or their research and development arm
• Awareness of, and alignment to, any existing end user procurement programmes
• The anticipated benefits (for example, in cost, time, improved capability) that your solution will provide to the user
• Whether it is likely to be a standalone product or integrated with other technologies or platforms
• Expected additional work required beyond the end of the contract to develop an operationally deployable commercial product (for example, “scaling up” for manufacture, cyber security, integration with existing technologies, environmental operating conditions)
• Additional future applications and wider markets for exploitation
• Wider collaborations and networks you have already developed or any additional relationships you see as a requirement to support exploitation
• How your product could be tested in a representative environment
• Any specific legal, ethical, commercial or regulatory considerations for exploitation

6.3 Is your exploitation plan long term?

Long term studies may not be able to articulate exploitation in great detail, but it should be clear that there is credible advantage to be gained from the technology development. You should therefore include project specific information which will help exploitation.

This competition is being carried out as part of a wider HMG programme. We may collaborate with organisations outside of the UK Government and this may provide the opportunity to carry out international trials and demonstrations in the future.

7. How to apply

7.1 Submission deadline

12:00 Midday on 13 June 2024 (BST)

7.2 Where do I submit my proposal?

Via the DASA Online Submission Service for which you will be required to register.

Only proposals submitted through the DASA Online Submission Service will be accepted.

7.3 Total funding available

The total funding available for this competition is £750,000 (excluding VAT).

7.4 How many proposals will DASA fund

It is intended to fund a number of proposals in this competition.

7.5 For further guidance

Click here for more information on our competition process and how your proposal is assessed.

Queries should be sent to the DASA Help Centre – accelerator@dstl.gov.uk

7.6 What your proposal must include

• The proposal should focus on the competition requirements but must also include a brief (uncosted) outline of the next stages of work required for commercial exploitation
• When submitting a proposal, you must complete all sections of the online form, including an appropriate level of technical information to allow assessment of the bid and a completed finances section
• Completed proposals must comply with the financial rules set for this competition. The upper-limit for each proposal under this competition is £150,000 (excluding VAT). Proposals will be rejected if the financial cost exceeds this capped level
• You must include a list of other current or recent government funding you may have received in this area if appropriate, making it clear how this proposal differs from this work
• A project plan with clear milestones and deliverables must be provided. Deliverables must be well defined and designed to provide evidence of progress against the project plan and the end-point; they must include a final report
• You should also plan for attendance at a kick-off meeting at the start of the project, a mid-project event and an end of project event, as well as regular reviews with the appointed Technical Partner, Project Manager and Exploitation Manager; all meetings will be in the UK. Meetings may also take place virtually. Any slides presented at these meetings need to be made available.
• You must provide a detailed plan as to how you will undertake a physical test of your solution. This should be included as a specific deliverable during the last 2 months of your proposal
• Your proposal must demonstrate how you will complete all activities/services and provide all deliverables within the competition timescales (8 months including testing and trialling stage). Proposals with any deliverables (including final report) outside the competition timeline will be rejected as non-compliant

7.7 What your resourcing plan should include

Your resourcing plan must identify, where possible, the nationalities of proposed employees that you intend to work on this phase.

7.8  If your proposal is recommended for funding

In the event of a proposal being recommended for funding, DASA reserves the right to undertake due diligence checks including the clearance of proposed employees. Please note that this process will take as long as necessary and could take up to 6 weeks in some cases for non-UK nationals.

You must identify any ethical / legal / regulatory factors] within your proposal and how the associated risks will be managed, including break points in the project if approvals are not received.

MODREC approvals can take up to 5 months therefore you should plan your work programme accordingly. If you are unsure if your proposal will need to apply for MODREC approval, then please refer to the MODREC Guidance for Suppliers or contact your Innovation Partner for further guidance.

Requirements for access to Government Furnished Assets (GFA), for example, information, equipment, materials and facilities, may be included in your proposal. DASA cannot guarantee that GFA will be available. If you apply for GFA, you should include an alternative plan in case it is not available.

Failure to provide any of the above listed will automatically render your proposal non-compliant.

8. Cyber risk assessment

8.1 Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ)

On receipt of a ‘Fund’ decision, successful suppliers must prove cyber resilience before the contract is awarded. The start of this process is the submission of a Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ allows suppliers to demonstrate compliance with the specified risk level and the corresponding profile in Def Stan 05-138, and the level of control required will depend on this risk level.

To expedite the contracting time of successful suppliers we ask all suppliers to complete the SAQ before they submit their proposal.  The SAQ can be completed here using the DASA Risk Assessment RAR-240411B03 and answer questions for risk level “Very Low”. In the form, for the contract name please use the competition title and for the contract description please use the title of your proposal.

8.2 Defence Cyber Protection Partnership

The Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP) will review your SAQ submission and respond within 2 working days with a reference number and an indication of your compliance status. The resulting email response from DCPP should be attached (JPG or PNG format) and included within the DASA submission service portal when the proposal is submitted. You will also be asked to enter your SAQ reference number. Please allow enough time to receive the SAQ reference number prior to competition close at 12:00 midday on 13 June 2024 (BST).

The SAQ will be evaluated against the Cyber Risk Assessment for the competition, and it will be put it into one of the following categories:

1. Compliance status   Met – no further action
2. Compliance status   Not Met – if successful in competition and being funded, the innovator will be required to complete a Cyber Implementation Plan (CIP) before the contract is placed, which will need to be reviewed and agreed with the relevant project manager

Innovators can enter a proposal without all controls in place, but must have all the cyber protection measures necessary to fulfil the requirements of the contract in place at the time of contract award, or have an agreed CIP.

The CIP provides evidence as to how and when potential innovators will achieve compliance. Provided the measures proposed in the CIP do not pose an unacceptable risk to the MOD, a submission with a CIP will be considered alongside those who can achieve the controls.

A final check will be made to ensure cyber resilience before the contract is placed.  Commercial staff cannot progress without it. This process does not replace any contract specific security requirements.

Additional information about cyber security can be found at: DCPP: Cyber Security Model industry buyer and supplier guide..)

8.3 Public facing information

When submitting your proposal, you will be required to include a title, Proposal Value Proposition Statement (PVPS) and a short abstract. The title, PVPS and abstract you provide will be used by DASA, and other government departments, to describe your project and its intended outcomes and benefits. They may be included at DASA events in relation to this competition and in documentation such as brochures. The proposal title will be published in the DASA transparency data on GOV.UK, along with your company name, the amount of funding, and the start and end dates of your contract. As this information can be shared, it should not contain information that may compromise Intellectual property.

9. How your proposal will be assessed

At Stage 1, all proposals will be checked for compliance with the competition document and may be rejected before full assessment if they do not comply. Only those proposals that demonstrate compliance against the competition scope and DASA mandatory criteria will be taken forward to full assessment.

Mandatory Criteria	Within scope (Pass) / Out of scope (Fail)
The proposal outlines how it meets the scope of the competition	Pass / Fail
The proposal fully explains in all three sections of the DASA submission service how it meets the DASA criteria	Pass / Fail
The proposal clearly details a financial plan, a project plan and a resourcing plan to complete the work proposed	Pass / Fail
The proposal identifies the need (or not) for MODREC approval	Pass / Fail
The proposal identifies any GFA required	Pass / Fail
The proposal has an specific Testing deliverable	Pass / Fail
Maximum value of proposal is £150k	Pass / Fail
The proposal demonstrates how all research and development activities / services (including delivery of the final report) will be completed within 8 months from award of contract (or less)	Pass / Fail
The bidder has obtained the authority to provide unqualified acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Contract.	Pass / Fail

Proposals that pass Stage 1 will then be assessed against the standard DASA assessment criteria (Desirability, Feasibility and Viability) by subject matter experts from the MOD (including Dstl), other UK Government departments, front-line military commands and possibly government employees from USA and Canada. You will not have the opportunity to view or comment on assessors’ recommendations.

DASA reserves the right to disclose on a confidential basis any information it receives from innovators during the procurement process (including information identified by the innovator as Commercially Sensitive Information in accordance with the provisions of this competition) to any third party engaged by DASA for the specific purpose of evaluating or assisting DASA in the evaluation of the innovator’s proposal. In providing such information the innovator consents to such disclosure. Appropriate confidentiality agreements will be put in place.

Further guidance on how your proposal is assessed is available on the DASA website.

After assessment, proposals will be discussed internally at a Decision Conference where, based on the assessments, budget and wider strategic considerations, a decision will be made on the proposals that are recommended for funding.

Innovators are not permitted to attend the Decision Conference.

Proposals that are unsuccessful will receive brief feedback after the Decision Conference.

10. Things you should know about DASA contracts: DASA terms and conditions

Please read the DASA terms and conditions which contain important information for innovators. For this competition we will be using the Innovation Standard Contract (ISC), links to the contract: Terms and Conditions. We will require unqualified acceptance of the terms and conditions; if applicable, please ensure your commercial department has provided their acceptance.

For this competition we will be using DEFCON705

More information on DEFCONS can be found by registering on the Knowledge in Defence site.

Funded projects will be allocated a Project Manager (to run the project), a Technical Partner (as a technical point of contact) and an Exploitation Manager (to support you maximise the impact of the project). In addition, the DASA team will work with you to support delivery and exploitation including, when appropriate, introductions to end-users and business support to help develop their business.

We will use deliverables from DASA contracts in accordance with our rights detailed in the contract terms and conditions.

For this competition £750,000 is currently available to fund proposals. Where a proposal meets the fundable requirements for a competition, but is not funded, DASA will continue to seek funding from partners across government and shall consider your proposal fundable for 12 months from the date of the decision release. We will share the abstract, PVPS and title of your proposal with any other UK government departments that may express an interest in funding the proposal through DASA, in accordance with the competition document. If a budget holder within the MOD wishes to read the full proposal to decide if they will fund it, we will share it with them under these circumstances. If it is within 60 days of the original NOT FUNDED decision release date, we will share the full proposal with them without seeking your permission. If it is over 60 days since the original NOT FUNDED decision we will seek your permission before sharing the full proposal with them.

For other potential funders, we will seek your permission before sharing the full proposal regardless of the number of days since the original NOT FUNDED decision release.

In the event that funding becomes available, DASA may ask whether you would still be prepared to undertake the work outlined in your proposal. Your official DASA feedback will indicate if your proposal was deemed fundable, but not awarded funding at the time.

11. Competition key dates

Competition Launch	17 April 2024
Pre bookable Dial-in Sessions	2 and 9 May 2024
Competition Closes	12:00 Midday 13 June 2024 (BST)
Feedback release	1 September 2024
Contracting	Aim to start in October 2024 and finish 8 months later in May 2025

12. Help: Contact the DASA Help Centre

Competition queries including on process, application, commercial, technical and intellectual property aspects should be sent to the DASA Help Centre at accelerator@dstl.gov.uk, quoting the competition title. If you wish receive future updates on this competition, please email the DASA Help Centre.

While all reasonable efforts will be made to answer queries, DASA reserves the right to impose management controls if volumes of queries restrict fair access of information to all potential innovators.