The $87,986,952 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development will have work performed in Dayton, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 12, 2027, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.
This award is the result of a broad agency announcement. Fiscal 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $1,754,885 are obligated at the time of award.
The contract came from Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Through the five-year program, dubbed "Soaring Otter," researchers will support the Air Force in its quest to increase its capabilities in autonomy by maturing autonomy technologies, including machine learning, artificial intelligence, neural networks, neuromorphic computing and data exploitation, the University of Dayton Research Institute said Thursday.
These technologies will allow autonomous systems to gather information, "understand" images or data, and then use the information to solve problems or achieve goals, principal investigator Patrick Hytla, senior image processing engineer in UDRI's applied sensing division, said in a UDRI release.
Air Force applications for autonomous systems include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; cybersecurity; and command and control systems.
SSK Industries Inc., in Lebanon, was also recently awarded a $12,649,165 contract to provide safety items and life support and related original equipment manufacturer overhauls required by Navy Special Operations Forces for use in the Ram-Air Parachute Systems.
Work will be performed in Lebanon and is expected to be completed in October 2026.
The contract came from the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif.
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