Micro-UAS Procurement

The Finnish Border Guard (later also Contracting Authority) is launching a restricted procurement procedure for the procurement of small unmanned aircraft systems (hereinafter referred to as the UAS) and is inviting suppliers to request participation. This Request for Participation alongside its appendices sets out general requirements for the unmanned aircraft system (hereinafter referred to as the system) and the unmanned aircraft (hereinafter referred to as the UAV) to be procured. More detailed requirements will be presented in the Call for Tenders, which will be published later. The Finnish Border Guard's unmanned aviation is civil aviation that complies with the provisions of the Aviation Act (864/2014) and Traficom OPS M1-35 State Unmanned Aviation. The operations may deviate from the EASA drone regulations, taking into account the flight safety definitions of the 'specific' category. In addition, the operations of unmanned aircraft comply with the provisions and instructions of the Border Guard's permanent documents. The Finnish Border Guard uses unmanned aerial vehicles to perform statutory tasks on land and at sea. Unmanned aerial vehicles may be used in crime prevention, maritime rescue, special forces operations or in support of other authorities, for example in the search for a missing person. Unmanned aerial vehicles may also be used in other operational tasks as well as in research, development, education, training and communication activities. Interested candidates are requested to attach brochures of the proposed systems in their request to participate. If the product in the brochure does not meet the requirements stated in this Request for Participation, the participant may be excluded from the tendering phase. After submitting the tenders, the Finnish Border Guard may request tenderers to submit a test version of the proposed UAS to verify the requirements set out in the Call for Tenders. The total estimated value of this procurement is 450 000 €.