Leidos awarded $67 million contract for AFRL sensor project

The Air Force Research Lab has awarded Leidos a $67 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to develop new sensor system concepts for the Rapid Technology Development and Demonstration program.

A July 2 Defense Department contract announcement states the work will create "new/novel concepts for sensor and systems of sensor systems across the multiple domains and spectrums that aid in command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and battlespace awareness."

According to a statement of objectives published on Federal Business Opportunities in December, new methods for systems engineering and integration technology are required as a result of increasing complexity in DOD systems. Further, traditional approaches are insufficient to meet the flexibility and adaptability needed to rapidly respond to advanced threats.

AFRL is particularly interested in using open architectures and system-of-system solutions for manned and unmanned platforms, the July 2 announcement reads. It did not specify the platforms of interest.

In addition to systems engineering, RTD2 seeks to integrate technology and advanced prototype components to hold demonstrations in a realistic operating environment, which can range from ground experimentation to flight tests. The December 2018 SOO states the contractor should be able to "implement distributed tests over multi-domain environments and loosely coupled networks."

According to the DOD contract notice, two offers were received to compete for the award. Work will be performed in Reston, VA with base support at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH and is expected to conclude by June 2024.