TechTaffy

tech:

taffy

Altavian awarded $250 million UAS contract by the U.S. Army

By TechTaffy Desk

Altavian, a U.S. based Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) engineering and manufacturing firm, was awarded  a $250 million Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract with the US Army. Under the Program Executive Office Aviation, Products Office for Tactical Unmanned Aircraft (TUAS), Altavian will be supporting the largest small UAS program in the world.

The US Army Family of Systems, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (FoSUAS) includes the RQ-11, the RQ-20, supporting control and communications equipment, and other technologies to be fielded over the contract period of performance. All systems are designed to be carried by a single dismounted warfighter, quickly assembled, and deployed to provide immediate over-the-hill surveillance and reconnaissance.

Under this new contract, Altavian will compete to provide components to sustain the FoSUAS fleet, as well as upgrading offerings. New offerings include upgraded avionics and radios with increased frequency options, along with a handheld ground control station (H-GCS). Altavian will continue to supply RQ-11 and RQ-20 direct replacement parts for the government, says the company.

This contract has a base award period of five years and is the primary acquisition method for Group I UAS in the Army. Altavian has been performing on the predecessor contract since 2012.

[Image courtesy: Altavian]

Just in

Series A

Tembo raises $14M

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Tembo, a Postgres managed service provider, has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round.
Around the web

Raspberry Pi is now a public company — TC

Raspberry Pi priced its IPO on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning at £2.80 per share, valuing it at £542 million, or $690 million at today’s exchange rate, writes Romain Dillet. 
Fundings

AlphaSense raises $650M

AlphaSense, a market intelligence and search platform, has raised $650 million in funding, co-led by Viking Global Investors and BDT & MSD Partners.
Around the web

Elon Musk’s xAI raises $6B to take on OpenAI — VentureBeat

Confirming reports from April, the series B investment comes from the participation of multiple known venture capital firms and investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (A16z), Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Kingdom Holding, writes Shubham Sharma. 
IT

Capgemini partners with DARPA to explore quantum computing for carbon capture

Capgemini Government Solutions has launched a new initiative with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to investigate quantum computing's potential in carbon capture.