TurbineOne Awarded Direct-to-Phase II SBIR for Unmanned Systems Model Sharing to Support Air Force Special Operations

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TurbineOne announces it has been selected by AFWERX for a Direct-to-Phase II contract in the amount of over $1 million focused on sharing ML models at the edge within autonomous drone swarms using TurbineOne’s Frontline Perception System (FPS) software, to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF). The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and now in July 2024, TurbineOne will continue its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.

“We’re honored that the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) chose our machine learning perception technology to empower their autonomous systems. Our technology solves a critical capability gap by seamlessly exchanging information among autonomous drone swarms, even in austere or communication-denied environments,” said TurbineOne Co-Founder and CEO Ian Kalin. “We’re thrilled to be working with Autonomy Prime and continuing our relationship with one of our earliest customers, AFSOC.”

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.

About TurbineOne

TurbineOne is the frontline perception company. It delivers national security and intelligence solutions through its no-code, no-cloud software platform. Backed by the nation’s leading defense venture capitalists, TurbineOne is deployed globally with every military branch and U.S. Special Operations.

About AFRL

The Air Force Research Laboratory is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace force. With a workforce of more than 12,500 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit afresearchlab.com.

About AFWERX

As the innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX employs approximately 370 military, civilian and contractor personnel at five hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has executed over 6,100 new contracts worth more than $4 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: www.afwerx.com.