Round 2: Air Force makes new awards for Skyborg unmanned effort
By
Ross Wilkers
The Air Force makes a second round of awards for Skyborg -- its program to develop future unmanned aerial vehicles that can use artificial intelligence in working with their manned counterparts.
The Air Force has made a second round of awards on a $400 million program to develop technologies for future unmanned aerial vehicles that use artificial intelligence in manned-unmanned teaming.
With nine new awards announced Tuesday, the number of participating companies in the overall Skyborg effort grows to 13 on top of the initial four firms announced in July.
Boeing, Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, Northrop Grumman and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will compete for delivery orders to build the UAV prototypes.
Companies selected in round two will apparently focus on autonomous technologies for the UAV in order to help it in combat operations with manned teammates.
New awardees are
- AeroVironment
- Autonodyne
- BAE Systems Inc.
- Blue Force Technologies
- Fregata Systems
- Lockheed Martin
- NextGen Aeronautics
- Sierra Technical Services
- Wichita State University
The Air Force received 18 total bids for the Skyborg program, which is one of the branch’s so-called “vanguard” programs labeled as such for its goal to integrate technology components across multiple domains to create complex, multidisciplinary solutions.
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