Autonomous security RFP checklist

How to use this#

Copy the questions into your RFP and require numeric answers where a number is asked. Vendors who answer “up to” or “industry-leading” to a numeric question have answered a different question. Each section links to the research behind it.

A. Coverage and time on watch#

1. For point X on our site plan, what fraction of a year will your system have eyes on it? Show the calculation. (Time on watch)
2. What is your aircraft's on-station time per sortie, net of transit, and recharge time?
3. How many units are required for continuous coverage of X? (Sizing formula)
4. Describe scheduler behaviour after a weather hold. Do aircraft relaunch together?
5. What are the wind, precipitation, temperature and visibility limits for flight and for watching?
6. Provide a viewshed for your proposed sensor positions on our terrain. (Viewshed study)
7. What DORI level is achieved at the far edge of each zone? (DORI)

B. Detection performance#

8. State probability of detection per intruder type (walking, running, crawling, vehicle, small drone) and approach.
9. State nuisance alarm rate per zone per day in calm and windy conditions, from comparable live sites.
10. How are sensors fused? Give $P_d$ and alert rate for the fused system. (Fusion model)
11. Which nuisance sources are correlated across your sensors?
12. What is time from first detection to an operator seeing a classified track?
13. How are small drones distinguished from birds?
14. Provide results from a supervised site trial including night and bad weather.

C. Operations#

15. How many alerts per operator-hour should we expect on our worst-weather nights?
16. What is the supported operator-to-unit ratio?
17. What deterrence options exist before dispatch (voice, light)?
18. How does the system integrate with our VMS, PSIM, access control and dispatch?
19. What happens when connectivity is lost?
20. What is your on-watch availability SLA and how is it measured?
21. Mean time to repair; spares held locally?
22. Training required for operators and maintainers.

D. Timely detection#

23. Using our response time, estimate probability of interruption for our three most credible paths. (P_I model)
24. Where on each path does first detection occur?
25. What delay elements do you recommend we add?

E. Regulation, safety and authority#

26. What aviation authorization do you hold today for operations like ours, and who holds it? (Regulations)
27. Do your aircraft comply with Remote ID, and how?
28. What counter-drone capability, if any, is included, and on what legal basis?
29. How is human authorization enforced for consequential actions?
30. What are your geofencing and privacy-zone controls?

F. Data and security#

31. Where are video and telemetry stored? Can the system run on-premises or air-gapped?
32. Retention defaults and who can change them.
33. Firmware signing, encryption in transit and at rest.
34. Date and scope of the last independent penetration test.
35. Audit log contents and export format.

G. Commercials#

36. All-in annual cost including installation, connectivity, monitoring and integration.
37. Cost per hour of effective coverage of point X.
38. Minimum term, minimum fleet, and what counts as a billable hour.
39. Exit terms: data return, equipment removal, site restoration.
40. Price protection on renewal.

Frequently asked questions#