IC Technology & Surveillance — 2026-06-12

SOCOM Seeks Electronic Intelligence Payloads for Maritime Drones to Geolocate Adversary Signals in GPS-Denied Environments

BLUFSOCOM will likely award at least one ELINT payload contract before year-end, compressing acquisition timelines to close a recognized gap in GPS-denied maritime signal collection.

USSOCOM's Program Executive Office for Tactical Information Systems and the SOFWERX innovation hub published a special notice on June 9 seeking small-form-factor ELINT payloads for unmanned surface vessels, underwater vehicles, and aerial drones that can geolocate and process signals in complex maritime and GPS-denied environments 12. DefenseScoop reported that the notice specifies desired attributes including low size-weight-and-power profiles, mission autonomy, counter-detection signature management, and sensor reprogrammability at the tactical edge 3. Industry white paper responses are due July 1, after which SOCOM will downselect vendors for a capability assessment event at a naval warfare center in Rhode Island planned for August 3. The notice states the August event could lead to procurement contracts or other acquisition agreements with selected vendors 3.

Analysis
The June-to-August timeline, from notice and white papers through downselect to capability assessment at a Rhode Island naval warfare center, signals SOCOM judges a near-term commercial solution can close a recognized GPS-denied maritime ELINT gap. SOCOM will likely award at least one contract or OTA before year-end, with explicit evaluation criteria, a named venue, and SOFWERX's track record of compressing timelines all supporting that call. Moderate confidence reflects limited visibility into whether sufficient commercial solutions exist across the combined GPS-denied, low-SWaP, and sensor reprogrammability requirements. If white paper submissions fall short, SOCOM redirects toward a development contract rather than a fielded capability. An award puts competing maritime ELINT program offices on notice to de-conflict platform integration timelines. A miss extends SOF dependence on existing collection platforms.

3 sources

UxV Payloads against Modern Signals - SAM.gov / USSOCOM
USSOCOM PEO-TIS to host UxV Payloads against Modern Signals events - Intelligence Community News
SOCOM looking to mount new ELINT capabilities on maritime drones - DefenseScoop