US Air Force awards $20M to Alion for autonomous navigation

August 31, 2020  - By

The U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has awarded Alion Science and Technology a $20 million task order for a 60-month period to provide Autonomy and Navigation Technology (ANT) development.

The ANT Center is a forward-looking research center within the AFIT seeking to identify and solve tomorrow’s most challenging autonomy and navigation problems.

The ANT Center’s goal is to develop navigation technology that ensures the Department of Defense (DOD) can navigate anywhere, anytime, using anything, and to improve the DOD’s ability to conduct autonomous operations.

Alion will research, assess, analyze and develop the ANT Center’s research in autonomous and cooperative systems, non-GPS precision navigation, and robust GNSS navigation/Navigation Warfare (NAVWAR). This effort supports the AFIT’s mission to advance air, space, and cyberspace power for the nation, its partners, and our armed forces by conducting relevant defense-focused research to enhance technical graduate and continuing education, while supporting the development and evolution of navigation and autonomy technologies, impacting weapon systems across the DOD.

“Alion has some of the greatest engineering and technology minds in industry partnering side-by-side with our customers to face challenging issues and create technologies, solutions and advancements in innovation to keep our nation ahead,” said Eric Wright, Alion’s vice president of the Integrated Solutions Operation within the Advanced Technology Group. “We are privileged to be working with the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology to achieve the goals of the ANT Center.”

This task was awarded under the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center Multiple Award Contract (IAC MAC) issued by the Air Force Installation Contracting Center. This material is based upon work supported by the DOD Information Analysis Center Program Management Office (DOD IAC PMO), sponsored by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) under Contract No. FA807518D0002.


Photo: U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Anthony Nelson

Photo: U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Anthony Nelson

About the Author: Tracy Cozzens

Senior Editor Tracy Cozzens joined GPS World magazine in 2006. She also is editor of GPS World’s newsletters and the sister website Geospatial Solutions. She has worked in government, for non-profits, and in corporate communications, editing a variety of publications for audiences ranging from federal government contractors to teachers.