"Six... contracts with a maximum combined ceiling of $975,000,000 for Mid-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems IV intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services in support of US Special Operations Command enterprise requirements worldwide", the release said on Thursday.
According to the release, the purchase supports competition at the task-order level to ensure the most capable platforms and payloads provide real-time, responsive airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance solutions to Special Operations Forces.
The contracts were awarded to L3, Textron, Precision Integrated Programs, Arcturus UAV, Insitu, and Wildflower International. Special Operations Command in Tampa in the US state of Florida is the contracting activity for the awards, the Defence Department added.
Mid-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems IV is a fee-for-service or "power by the hour" contractor-owned and operated drone network deployed in support of the Special Operations Command. It uses catapult-launched mid-sized unmanned aerial vehicles to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information to special forces on the ground.