The USSOCOM Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs will soon be accepting submissions for this Special Area of Interest:
PHASE I:
SOCOM234-001: Analyzing Narrative Evolution Across Social Networks
Submissions Open 21 February 2023.
On 22 February, SOFWERX will host a virtual Q&A session for the area of interest. RSVP to the Q&A session on the event webpage.
AUSTIN, Texas — Several thousand U.S., U.K. and Australian service members, researchers and industry partners will experiment with and assess new technologies at U.S. military installations across the Western U.S. between September and November as part of Project Convergence 2022.
The expansive effort is the newest endeavor of the U.S. Army’s Project Convergence, a flagship modernization learning, experimentation and demonstration campaign. The Army led its first large-scale Project Convergence experiment in 2020, and has continued to grow the scope, scale and complexity of the event annually.
“Project Convergence 2022 is an all-service experiment that includes Special Operations Forces, and our U.K. and Australian partners. Using existing and emerging technologies from space to land and sea, PC22 will experiment with capabilities that protect against air and missile threats as well as those that will allow us to defeat anti-access defenses,” said Lt. Gen. Scott McKean, director of Project Convergence 2022. McKean explained Project Convergence 2022 incorporates service experimentation and learning, like the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System and the Navy’s Project Overmatch, to inform Joint All-Domain Command and Control development. Logistics capabilities will also play a central role in PC22.
Project Convergence 2022 will evaluate approximately 300 technologies, including long-range fires, unmanned aerial systems, autonomous fighting vehicles and next-generation sensors, and focus on advancing Joint and Multinational interoperability in future operational environments.
The event will also encompass the inaugural PC22 Technology Gateway, an industry engagement opportunity hosted by U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command that will kick off experimentation by assessing novel solutions available from the commercial sector.
“Having Tech Gateway as part of the Project Convergence series gives us the opportunity to assess new technologies against operational concepts and see what’s in the realm of the possible; what could be. Such experimentation informs possible future Army requirements, provides valuable feedback and increases the speed of learning as we strive for breakthrough technologies of the future,” said Lt. Gen. Thomas H. Todd III, deputy commanding general for Acquisition & Systems and the chief innovation officer at U.S. Army Futures Command.
The Joint Force and Multinational partners will utilize key learning and experimentation outcomes from Project Convergence 2022 to hone new military technologies, many of which offer state-of-the-art problem solving and network integration capabilities for the future fight.
By Army Futures Command
The USSOCOM Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are accepting submissions for the technology special areas of interest below:
(Round 2) PHASE I:
SOCOM224-007 Topological Anomaly Detection
(Round 3) DIRECT TO PHASE II:
SOCOM224-D005: Artificial Intelligence-Driven Voice Control at the Edge
SOCOM224-D006: Canine In-Ear Hearing Protection
For more information, visit events.sofwerx.org/sbir224r2r3.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space (APNT/Space) Cross-Functional Team (CFT) has concluded a 64-day stratospheric flight demonstration utilizing Airbus’s Zephyr 8 ultra-long endurance solar-powered unmanned air system (UAS).
Launched from Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) on June 15, the Zephyr 8 UAS ascended to over 60,000 feet into the stratosphere before executing its flight plan over the southern portion of the United States, into the Gulf of Mexico, and over South America. Once returning to airspace over YPG, the team conducted multiple assessments.
On August 18 around 2100 hours PDT, the prototype aircraft’s flight campaign ended when the Zephyr 8 UAS encountered events that led to its unexpected termination over YPG. These events are under investigation. No injuries or risk to personnel or other aircraft resulted from this incident. Further information will be released following the investigation.
“Our team is working hard to gather and analyze important data following the unexpected termination of this flight,” said Michael Monteleone, Director of the APNT/Space CFT. “Despite this event, the Army and its partners have gleaned invaluable data and increased knowledge on the endurance, efficiency, and station keeping abilities of high-altitude UAS platforms. That knowledge will allow us to continue to advance requirements for reliable, modernized stratospheric capabilities to our Soldiers.”
This flight marked a number of firsts for Zephyr 8, including its departure from U.S. airspace, flight over water, flight in international airspace, data collection and direct downlink while outside of U.S. airspace, the longest continuous duration (7 days) utilizing satellite communications, and the demonstration of resilient satellite command and control from three different locations – Huntsville, AL; Yuma, AZ; and Farnborough, UK.
During this flight, Zephyr 8 more than doubled the previous UAS endurance record, just under 26 days, and flew in excess of 30,000 nautical miles – more than one lap around the Earth. The 1,500 flight hours beat all known unmanned aircraft endurance records, marking significant capability and informing future mission requirements.
This experimentation successfully demonstrated Zephyr’s energy storage capacity, flight endurance, station-keeping and agile positioning abilities. Given the amount of data that was generated during the 64-day flight and the time required to analyze it, as well as the need to investigate the events that led to the termination, further flight demonstrations have been postponed until 2023.
This 64-day test flight was performed in conjunction with government and industry partners who support experimentation that continues to inform Army requirements.
-Army Futures Command
The USSOCOM Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small
Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs will soon be accepting submissions for the technology areas of interest below.
Special Areas of Interest
(Round 2) PHASE I:
SOCOM224-007 Topological Anomaly Detection
(Round 3) DIRECT TO PHASE II:
SOCOM224-D005: Artificial Intelligence-Driven Voice Control at the Edge
SOCOM224-D006: Canine In-Ear Hearing Protection
On 23 August, SOFWERX will host virtual Q&A sessions for each of the areas of interest. RSVP to the Q&A session(s) that interest you here.
VICKSBURG, Miss. – A team from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Transatlantic Division and the USACE Protective Design Center was recently recognized with the 2022 USACE Innovation of the Year Award.
The team developed simple and effective bunker enclosure door designs for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to help reduce risk for traumatic brain injury (TBI) to bunker occupants. The new designs sought to reduce the peak pressures experienced by an individual seeking shelter in a bunker by more than 90 percent.
CENTCOM’s area of responsibility encompasses more than 4 million square miles and stretches from Kazakhstan to Yemen.
“The ERDC team, in coordination with the Transatlantic Division, developed modifications to existing bunker designs to reduce TBI vulnerability and provide design recommendations to the Army to address force protection challenges concerning current personnel bunkers,” said Bart Durst, ERDC-GSL director.
Throughout the research and design process, team members leveraged the Department of Defense’s High Performance Computing systems at ERDC to conduct more than 120 high-fidelity simulations of door designs and configurations.
The innovative solution was developed within a very short timeline using the survivability knowledge maintained through ERDC’s Expedient Passive Protection program and their computational capabilities. The team was able to deliver the project in six months.
“I am extremely proud of ERDC-GSL’s contribution to this team and this project,” Durst said. “These innovations will tremendously benefit warfighters across the globe in the execution of their mission. These retrofits provided rapid solutions to address an urgent need for expeditionary force protection to reduce TBI vulnerabilities.”
ERDC Public Affairs
Plymouth, MI (June 2022) – EOTECH, inventor and original manufacturer of Holographic technology for use on military, LE, hunting, and consumer firearms, has been awarded a follow up SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) contract for the development of a dual-color holographic head-up display for increased situational awareness and targeting in military aircraft.
This Phase II contract funds further development to produce a system that allows more information to be acquired faster without obscuring the pilot field of view, which leads to efficient decisions and reduced cognitive load on the end-user. Commercially, the developed technology may adapt to existing firearm weapon sights, and could provide customers with new functionality, such as overlaying waypoints or caliber data onto their field of view.
“We are extremely proud to have received this Phase II contract and are excited to continue developing this technology into a solution that enhances the performance of our pilots,” said Dennis Finnegan, President of EOTECH GOV. “EOTECH has been at the forefront of holography, dating back to the 1950’s, and has dedicated its existence to providing tools and technology that improve the performance and increase the safety of our warfighters.”
The SBIR program is intended to support scientific excellence and technological innovation that is moving from the lab to the market. Investing federal research and development funds into startups and small businesses yield positive results. It fosters a strong national economy and stimulates the creation of novel products, services, and solutions in the private sector; strengthens the role of small business in meeting federal research and development needs; increases the commercial application of federally supported research results; and develops and increases the US workforce, especially by fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses.
For more information, please visit www.eotechinc.com
The USSOCOM Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program is now accepting submissions for the Capability Focus Areas (CFAs) below. The objective of this Open Call for Science and Technology (S&T) Innovation topic is to develop applied research toward an innovative capability within the CFAs.
Capability Focus Areas (CFAs)
1. Next Generation Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Situational Awareness
2. Next Generation Effects
3. Futures
Submit NLT 16 June 12:00 PM ET.
For full details, visit events.sofwerx.org/sttr22-d.
