A drone detection RFP should specify the threat scenarios to defend against, the site's coverage geometry, required sensor layers, integration and data-residency requirements, evidence-quality standards, and the legal boundary — detection only, unless your organization holds a Transport Canada interdiction authorization under Bill C-15. This checklist covers the twelve sections Canadian buyers should include.
Why most drone detection RFPs fail their buyers
They specify products instead of problems. An RFP that says "provide RF detection to 5 km" has already made the vendor's most important decision — and made it badly, because range claims are the least comparable numbers in this industry, varying with terrain, spectrum environment, and the drone being detected. An RFP that says "detect a consumer drone approaching the north perimeter at night in time to execute a ten-minute response procedure" lets vendors compete on the thing you actually need.
The twelve sections
- 01
Threat definition
Name your scenarios in operational terms: contraband delivery over a perimeter, surveillance of a process area, incursion during a public event. Rank them. Everything downstream prices against this section.
- 02
Site characterization
Perimeter length, terrain and clutter, building heights, RF environment (urban spectrum noise degrades RF detection; say what surrounds you), power and network availability at candidate sensor positions, and climate — specify cold-weather operating requirements explicitly; a sensor that quits at −20°C is a seasonal sensor in most of Canada.
- 03
Detection performance — stated as outcomes
Required warning time against your named scenarios, not vendor range figures. Ask bidders to state assumptions and, critically, their false-alarm expectations: an operations centre that gets fifty bird alerts a night stops looking by week two.
- 04
Sensor layers
State which layers you require (RF, radar, EO/IR, Remote ID ingestion, acoustic) and — better — which detection gaps you care about: autonomous/low-RF drones and fibre-tethered drones defeat RF-only systems; require bidders to address non-emitting threats specifically. (Technology explainer)
- 05
Operator-location capability
If arrests and prosecution matter (corrections, events), require RF systems that decode operator position where the protocol allows it, and ask how the system handles drones whose protocols it cannot decode.
- 06
C2, fusion and false-alarm handling
One airspace picture across all sensors; classification approach; alert routing into your existing security operations (VMS, radios, mass-notification); and the audit trail. Ask to see the actual operator screen, not the brochure.
- 07
Evidence quality
Time-synced, exportable incident records — track history, decoded identifiers, video — in formats your counsel and local police can use. If prosecution is a goal, say so in the RFP; it changes the logging architecture.
- 08
Legal boundary and data governance
State plainly: detection only, no mitigation capability solicited, unless your organization holds or is pursuing a Transport Canada interdiction authorization under Bill C-15 — in which case name it and let bidders respond to that reality. Require Canadian data residency if your sector needs it, and address privacy: what personal information the system captures (operator locations are personal information), retention, and access controls.
- 09
Integration and infrastructure
Mounting, power, network, cybersecurity requirements (the detection system is now attack surface on your network — treat it like any OT procurement), and what "install" means at your site.
- 10
Monitoring model
Self-monitored, vendor-monitored 24/7, or hybrid — this decision moves more lifetime cost than any sensor choice. Ask for pricing on at least two models.
- 11
Service, training and lifecycle
Response times by severity, spares strategy, software update cadence, operator training and refresher terms, and — ask this exactly — "what does this system cost in year four?"
- 12
Evaluation and demonstration
Score against the threat scenarios in section 1. Require an on-site demonstration or paid pilot against a scripted scenario with a drone you supply, flown by a certified operator under appropriate CARs conditions. A vendor confident in their system will fly against it; weight hesitation accordingly.
Red flags in vendor responses
Range numbers without stated assumptions. "Detects all drones" (nothing does — the honest answer names the gaps). Mitigation capability offered to an unauthorized buyer without addressing the Bill C-15 framework. No false-alarm data. Demo videos in place of a live demonstration at your site.
Get the one-page checklist
The downloadable one-page version of this checklist is available to subscribers of the Canadian Airspace Security Brief.