Defense-Commercial Innovation Reaching New Hights
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Since fiscal 2016, the US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has helped transition 35 prototypes into production or service contracts with DOD and has a transition rate of about 41%. This is part of the agency’s effort to shepherd more commercial technologies to military users and reduce the impediments to companies who want to work with the government.
According to a new annual report, in 2021, eight new technologies were transitioned by the US Department of Defense’s innovation hub.
The report highlights the DIU’s technology transition rate — a key performance measure for the organization, which is focused on working with industry to push commercial technology to military users.
According to defensenews.com, the projects include:
- A hypersonic missile modeling project, which DIU awarded to C3.ai last year under a $1.2 million prototype other transaction authority agreement, resulted in a $2.5 million production contract with MDA “to simulate the real-world trajectories of non-ballistic and hypersonic missiles,” according to the report.
- Defensive counter-unmanned aerial system technology developed by Anduril to support partners at U.S. Southern Command, the Marine Corps, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Naval Air Systems Command, Customs and Border Control and U.S. Central Command. The project resulted in a five-year contract with a $100 million ceiling.
- A cyber deception project that can detect and alert users to threats. Developed by CounterCraft, the cyber deception prototype system resulted in a sole-source contract with a $30 million ceiling.
- A cyber asset management system, IntelliPeak Solutions developed a platform to integrate DoD-wide data and characterize assets as well as software and firmware. The resulting production contract, valued at up to $164 million, will presumably save more than $400,000 per year and three years of development time.
- A commercial threat intelligence database developed by LookingGlass Cyber Solutions. The company’s prototype provides a modeling environment that increases cyber intelligence and analysis for users, in this case, U.S. Cyber Command.
Interested in learning about Israeli defense and commercial innovation? Meet iHLS Security Accelerator and the INNOFENSE Innovation Center in collaboration with MAFAT – IMoD.
