National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) Police use of Drones - Early Market Engagement Briefing

Description

This notification is not a procurement or an invitation to submit bids. The Authority on behalf of the NPCC are undertaking a preliminary market engagement exercise to outline the direction of thinking and aspiration for police use of UAS. This Prior Information Notice is to alert the market of the requirement. We would like to hear from you as part of our market engagement phase. Contact the Procurement team listed for more information. Lot 1: This notification is not a procurement or an invitation to submit bids. The Authority on behalf of the NPCC are undertaking a preliminary market engagement exercise to outline the direction of thinking and aspiration for police use of UAS. Around 4,000 tasks every month are completed using small locally operated UAS. The majority of tasks involve search for missing persons or criminal suspects and take place day and night in both urban and rural settings. In addition the provision of high quality tactical imagery downlinked to the ground is used to enhance situational awareness and safety, aiding timely and informed decision making and capturing evidence. Drone as First Responder (DFR) will see UAS rapidly deployed to emergency call locations providing live high quality imagery for police control rooms. This imagery will be used to achieve excellent situational awareness, inform deployment decisions and capture evidence. The Authority is interested in innovative forward looking solutions that will improve operational capability and support further development of police UAS use, areas of interest include: • Assurance of safety when operating BVLOS in unsegregated airspace and over uninvolved persons. • Ability to operate day and night in all weather conditions. • Stable, reliable and secure C2 and data downlink over extended operating ranges. • Security protection of the UAS, payloads and data from interference or unauthorised access. • Payload capability including electro optical and thermal image sensors and other emerging technologies • Use of EDGE processing and the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance operational effectiveness and output The intention at this stage is to provide a briefing on the current and intended future direction of police UAS use with a focus on the problems, issues and challenges we are striving to overcome. The aim is to capturing innovative ideas and solutions and guide and influence the development of new and existing products and technologies that may enhance police UAS operations in future. Nothing in this engagement exercise shall constitute any partnership between any of the parties or be deemed to have created any relationship of agency between them and neither party shall have the authority to contract on behalf of or otherwise bind the other in any way. Nothing in this engagement exercise shall prevent the Authority from undertaking any competitive process to source and secure products related to UAS or other related products or services in the future. Nothing in this exercise shall provide the participants with any presumption or likelihood of success during any procurement process undertaken by the Authority. Additional information: This notification is not a procurement or an invitation to submit bids. The Authority maintains the right to amend or cancel any procurement activity in relation to this notice.