Air Force advancing sensor tech

Air Force awards contracts to support Sensors Technology Applications, Development and Evaluation program

The Air Force this week announced that it has selected Anteon International Corp. to support the service's Sensors Technology Applications, Development and Evaluation (STEADEE) program.

The STEADEE program investigates and develops diverse technologies to advance improvements that can be translated into warfighting capabilities, according to Air Force officials.

The first two delivery orders have been issued on the five-year, $10 million Anteon contract, which was awarded July 31 by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio.

The first task supports an annual tri-service symposium highlighting state-of-the-art sensor technologies, and the second task is to evaluate technology that identifies features of moving ground-based targets from high-range airborne sensors, according to the Fairfax, Va.-based company.

Joseph Kampf, president and chief executive officer of Anteon, said the firm has a long-standing relationship with AFRL and is looking forward "to working with the AFRL Sensors Directorate in researching and evaluating state-of-the-art sensor technologies."

In June, the Air Force selected Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. for a $14 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity STEADEE contract to investigate and analyze the areas of electro-optics, radio frequency and automatic target recognition.

That contract also called for investigating the integration opportunities of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare and precisions engagement, according to the Air Force.

STEADEE work is scheduled for completion by September 2009.