The Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) has awarded Advanced Technology International (ATI) a three-year, $100 million contract to manage its new consortium to rapidly procure information warfare tools, officials said Wednesday .
ATI is tasked with managing the industry partners taking part in SPAWAR’s Information Warfare Research Project (IWRP), which is set to open immediately and begin accepting proposals for capability prototype projects in August.
SPAWAR Systems Center (SSC) Atlantic awarded the deal to ATI through an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA).
“The IWRP OTA will accelerate acquisition and bring non-traditional sources, research and development labs, and industry together to provide new, innovative information warfare solutions,” Rear Adm. C.D. Becker, commander of SPAWAR Systems Command, said in a statement.
Participants in the IWRP will have a forum to pitch new IW capabilities to SPAWAR officials.
The consortium will run competitions for individual prototype projects to find IW tools for SPAWAR, including new technologies for cyber warfare, data analytics, assured communications, model-based systems engineering and IoT devices.
“The IWRP OTA has the ability to flex to include new information warfare technologies that are identified based on the Navy’s emerging needs,” SPAWAR officials said in a statement.
SSC Atlantic officials first announced IWRP at an industry day in February.
“This mechanism is faster and more attuned to getting something quickly that we want today, as opposed to traditional federal acquisition,” Bill Deligne, deputy executive director of SSC Atlantic, said in a statement.