University of Dayton awarded huge $98M contract for surveillance tech work for Air Force

An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle being re-fueled at Creech Air Force Base. U.S. Air Force photo

An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle being re-fueled at Creech Air Force Base. U.S. Air Force photo

The University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) will refine intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) technology for the Air Force through a new $98.5 million contract, the Department of Defense recently said.

UDRI, one of the Dayton area’s biggest and busiest defense contractors, received an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for ISR and “counter-targeting enhancement research,” the DOD said late Thursday.

This contract provides for the advancement and maturation of promising ISR technologies and counter-targeting/counter-ISR, the DOD said. Work will be performed in Dayton, and is expected to be completed July 31, 2030.

This contract was a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. An initial task order totaling $22.7 million will be awarded concurrently, the DOD said.

The contract came from the Air Force Research Laboratory Wright Research Site, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

UDRI says its ISR personnel conduct remote sensing research focused mostly on radio frequency and Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) sensors.

“However, our expert researchers also undertake important work in radar systems and components; processing, detection, and data products; Electro-Optics (EO); LADAR; target phenomenology; electromagnetic effects and environment; and other related areas,” the university says on its web site.

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