MINERVA Initiative – Uncrewed Aircraft System Deconfliction

*Please note that the ISC website will be available on September 23, 2026* ***AMENDMENT 001 - An attachment has been added. The document contains questions and answers related to the Challenge.*** This Challenge Notice is issued under the Innovative Solutions Canada Program (ISC) Call for Proposals 004 (EN578-24ISC4). For general ISC information, Offerors can visit the ISC website at: https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/innovative-solutions-canada/en Please refer to the Solicitation Documents Innovative Solutions Canada Program Call for Proposals – 004 - Tender Notice | CanadaBuys https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/tender-opportunities/tender-notice/cb-331-17030872 which contains the process for submitting a proposal. Steps to apply: Step 1: Read this challenge. Step 2: Read the Call for Proposals : https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/tender-opportunities/tender-notice/cb-331-17030872 Step 3: Propose your solution here : https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/innovative-solutions-canada/en/minerva-initiative-uncrewed-aircraft-system-deconfliction Challenge title: MINERVA Initiative – Uncrewed Aircraft System Deconfliction Challenge sponsor: Department of National Defense (DND) Funding Mechanism: Contract MAXIMUM CONTRACT VALUE: $500,000.00 CAD Multiple contracts could result from this Challenge. Phase 2: - The maximum funding available for any Phase 2 contract resulting from this Challenge is : $500,000.00 CAD excluding applicable taxes, shipping, travel and living expenses, as required. - The maximum duration for any Phase 2 contract resulting from this Challenge is up to 15 months (excluding submission of the final report). - Estimated number of Phase 2 contracts: 5 This disclosure is made in good faith and does not commit Canada to award any contract for the total approximate funding. Final decisions on the number of Phase 2 awards will be made by Canada on the basis of factors such as evaluation results, departmental priorities and availability of funds. Canada reserves the right to make partial awards and to negotiate project scope changes. Note: Selected companies are eligible to receive one contract per phase per challenge. Travel: Travel to Suffield, Alberta for prototype demonstration. Kick-off Meeting: All communication will take place by telephone or videoconference. Progress Review Meeting(s): Any progress review meetings will be conducted by telephone or videoconference. Final Review Meeting: All communication will take place by telephone or videoconference. Problem Statement: Challenge Statement Summary The challenge is to provide the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Canadian Army (CA) a software solution to provide an airspace common operating picture so that it can plan, deconflict, and control uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) traffic, including their use of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum, in order to ensure the safe and efficient management of UAS to enable the Canadian soldier to successfully fight and survive on the future battlefield. Details: Essential Outcomes The proposed solution must: 1. Be Windows-based. 2. Allow a user to create and store flight plans, including radio frequency requirements. 3. Have a flight plan repository (database) that stores the 4D (3D + time) trajectories and spectrum requirements of all accepted flight plans. 4. Enable integration of supplemental data services such as crewed aircraft flight plans and weather. 5. Generate an optimal 4D flight path for UAS based on specific mission goals and physical limits. 6. Be able to check new flight requests against existing flight plans, airspace constraints (no-fly zones) and RF spectrum requests to detect conflicts and resolve them (via set priorities or a human decision). 7. Generate 4D blocks of deconflicted airspace (a "tunnel" or a "box") where a UAS is permitted to fly. Additional Outcomes The proposed solution should: 1. Analyze real-time data from UASs to prevent collisions and automatically adjust flight path