Military eyes cold-weather technologies to enhance military operations at 60 below zero
Officials of the Rapid Reaction Technology Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Falls Church, Va., issued a request for information this week (RRTO-2015-09-09-RFI-SPIRAL-16-2) for the Multi-Service Demonstration for Arctic Challenges project.
This initiative, which is part of the Thunderstorm Spiral 16-2, seeks to find technology-demonstration candidates from private industry, government research and development (R&D) organizations, and academia to demonstrate military technologies for Arctic operations.
Thunderstorm is a series of technology demonstrations sponsored by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Emerging Capability & Prototyping, Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO). This project focuses on systems that address military challenges in the Arctic region. Technology demonstrations will be 1 to 12 Feb 2016 at Fort Wainwright and at other facilities in and around Fairbanks, Alaska.
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For these Arctic technology demonstrations, researchers particularly are interested in technologies for:
-- persistent command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (C4ISR) for domain awareness and information sharing in the Arctic region;
-- low-acoustic, -thermal, and -visual-signature small-unit mobility platforms for prolonged operations in Arctic conditions that involve temperatures as cold as -60 degrees Fahrenheit with a minimum of maintenance and logistics support;
-- Technologies to enhance visit, boarding, search, and seizure (VBSS) operations in Arctic waters;
-- mobile power and energy supplies for prolonged operations in temperatures as cold as -60 F with a minimum of maintenance and logistics support;
-- surface and airborne navigation in the Arctic region; and
-- sensors that provide surface penetration and Arctic mapping.
Related: DARPA approaches industry for unmanned sensors to monitor Arctic land, sea, and air traffic
Companies interested should email 5-page proposals no later than 2 Nov. 2015 to [email protected].
For questions or concerns contact the RRTO Thunderstorm office by phone at 814-865-6058, or by email at [email protected]. More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=361d38d69c27bf009c0eb9235415e2a2&tab=core&_cview=0.
