AFRL unveils new contract awards under $400M research effort

Companies will research new capabilities for the Air Force

The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has awarded contracts to several big defense contractors — many of them with a Dayton-area presence — under the $400 million “Advanced Aerospace Systems Technology Research” program.

The Department of Defense announced several of the awards in recent days. For example, Raytheon Technologies Corp. and the Boeing Co. were awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for research and development work in the effort.

“This contract has multiple awardees to be awarded at different dates,” the DOD said. “The primary objective of the program is to conduct research toward the development, demonstration, integration and transition of new aerospace vehicle technologies, designs and integrated systems that will provide advanced capabilities to the Department of the Air Force.”

The contract expected to have multiple awards, an AFRL spokesman at Wright-Patterson said. It is a task order contract with a $400 million ceiling, intended as a rapid contract vehicle for future tasks.

The awards position companies to take on tasks in an AFRL effort to push “toward the development, demonstration, integration and transition of new aerospace vehicle technologies, designs and integrated systems that will provide advanced capabilities to the Air Force,” the service said in a contract solicitation announcement last April. “These technology capability advancements will be applicable across current and emerging Air Force aerospace systems in all Air Force mission areas.”

The program will support the Aerospace Systems Directorate’s progress in the realms of vehicles, control sciences, high speed systems, turbine engines and much more.

Other companies receiving the award include: Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems Inc., Aurora Flight Sciences, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp., and Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems, among others.

Work will be performed at each contractor facility, unless otherwise indicated in specific task orders, and is expected to be complete by April 5, 2030.

This contract was a competitive acquisition, and 15 offers were received, the DOD said.

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