The Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) Expeditionary Warfare Consortium has been established to develop innovative products, prototypes, and solutions to meet the expeditionary warfare needs of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
The consortium provides decades of combined expertise, and has prototyping and testing capabilities to produce virtually any prototype.
It operates through an Other Transaction Authority agreement that went into effect June 21 and includes a base of two years, with two, two-year option periods and a cumulative ceiling amount of $100 million.
The consortium currently consists of two academic institutions and more than 30 small businesses located across the United States. ARA will continue to grow the membership over the duration of the contract to add new talent, experience, and, capabilities. ARA’s management of the consortium is focused on providing innovative solutions for NSWC-PC while reducing costs and development times.
“ARA has a proven track record of developing innovative solutions for the expeditionary warfighter,” said ARA Division Manager Brian Heimbuch. “We are pleased to lead a skilled multi-party team striving to address the needs of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.”
The agreement comes as the Navy seeks solutions that enhance mission effectiveness by rapidly move from prototype to production in order to address current and future systems in the expeditionary warfare environment, including operation in littoral zones.
The consortium will conduct prototyping efforts under the program’s expeditionary maneuver, amphibious operations, land maneuver and threat engagement technological areas.
The expertise represented by the consortium is broad, and includes keys areas including mine countermeasures, assault breaching systems, route reconnaissance and clearance, offensive mining, threat monitoring and protection, force protection, diving/special operations, medical support and rescue, amphibious operations technologies, and more.
An OTA allows the Department of Defense to carry out prototype projects that are directly relevant to enhancing the mission effectiveness of military personnel and supporting platforms, systems, components or materials.
For more information and updates, visit https://www.ara.com/contract-vehicles/.
