Scientific Systems Company, Inc. (SSCI) has been awarded a multi-million dollar, five-year prime contract with U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) C5ISR Center to develop, demonstrate, and transition Autonomy-at-the-Edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The OTUS program leverages ten years of autonomy stack development funded through multiple DARPA and Army programs to bring taskable autonomy to squad-relevant UAVs. OTUS systems are intended to provide additional capabilities while minimizing the cognitive burden on the Soldier. The contract was awarded by the System of Systems Consortium (SOSSEC), intending to transition autonomy technology to ongoing Programs of Record for UAV platforms.
The OTUS UAV autonomy will be modular open system architecture (MOSA) compliant to rapidly expand capability by upgrading computing hardware and new software applications. Development efforts will focus on pushing autonomy software to the edge. The OTUS effort intends to transform simple machines like UAVs into capable "teammates." OTUS-enabled platforms have the potential to take on dangerous tasks beyond the line of sight, providing on-demand situational awareness at greater distances, and creating information overmatch on the battlefield at the squad level.
SSCI leads an expert development team consisting of several industrial partners. SSCI President, Mr. Kunal Mehra, provides insight into the company's approach to solving this challenging problem: "OTUS is a very promising example of how SSCI is transforming soldier operations by transitioning advanced, SW-based technologies from the lab to the battlefield quickly and affordably, to enable our Forces in a near-peer fight." Raman Mehra, the CEO of SSCI, adds, "This is a significant award for SSCI; we are excited to be given the chance to create capabilities that will be of great benefit to our soldiers."
