The Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded Howard University a five-year, $90 million contract to set up a center and lead an academic consortium that will conduct tactical autonomy studies.
AFRL received four proposals for the establishment of a historically Black university-led research hub to carry out the project aimed at identifying practical applications of autonomous technology, the Department of Defense said Thursday.
The lab is obligating $2.95 million for the first task order under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.
R&D efforts will occur at Howard University’s Washington, D.C., facility and campuses run by members of the consortium.
The award resulted from a broad agency announcement published by the Air Force Office of the Chief Scientist on SAM.gov in September 2022.