Guided by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the STARS program seeks “sensing on all-weather ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) using nontraditional modes for persistent surveillance across multiple environments,” AFRL said in its solicitation last year.
Work will be performed in Fairborn, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 25, 2031.
This contract was a competitive acquisition and a dozen offers were received, the Department of Defense said.
The contract came from AFRL at Wright Patterson.
In Dayton, the University of Dayton Research Institute was awarded a $43.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for what the DOD said was “Hybrid AI and Autonomy Research and Development Considered Operationally Relevant and Explainable” — otherwise known as “HAARDCORE.”
The Air Force’s bid solicitation for HAARDCORE last year described the effort this way: “To bring in expertise to support the maturation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the autonomy capabilities for perceiving and analyzing the mission space, generating and selecting/suggesting courses of action ... executing the action, and evaluating mission performance for teams of aircraft.”
The contract provides for development and maturation of Artificial Intelligence software, for crewed and uncrewed systems, the DOD said.
Work will happen in Dayton and is expected to be completed by Nov. 24, 2029.
This award was a sole source acquisition. The contract again originated with AFRL at Wright-Patterson.
Also, a Beavercreek construction company has won a construction contract with a total cumulative face value of $9.1 million for work at a New York Air Force Reserve station.
Butt Construction Co. Inc. was awarded a firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of a building at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, New York, which will house a boom operator weapons system trainer.
The amount of this action is more than $8.9 million, with a total cumulative face value of more than $9.1 million.
Bids were solicited via the internet with five received, the DOD said. Work will be performed in Niagara Falls, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 11, 2027.
The contract came from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Ky.
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