The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded a $16.9 million contract to Lockheed Martin for prototype hardware/software systems to support advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance collection and exploitation programs. The contract to Lockheed’s Information Systems and Global Solutions, of Littleton, Colo., seeks systems that would provide “innovative solutions for multi-platform signal collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination for new and existing” ISR platforms. The project would include national and tactical collaboration across multiple enterprise ISR assets, processing and exploitation, enhanced enterprise collection planning techniques, and solutions for multi-intelligence sensor cross cueing through streamlined collection management techniques. Work is expected to be complete by July 21, 2016. Fiscal 2013 research and development funds totaling $6.1 million are being obligated initially. (DOD contract announcement.)
A recent Air Force contract to buy up to $50 million worth of small drones from Anduril Industries may soon allow the service’s special operations command to transform its MQ-9 Reapers into drone-launching motherships.
