Consortium hopes $5M outlay lures more Air Force UAV work
By Barrie Barbe Dayton Daily News
FAIRBORN — A Dayton region consortium will invest $5 million on UAV test equipment in a bid to win more lucrative Air Force Research Laboratory deals which last year awarded $2.1 billion in contracts, officials said.
The newly renamed AHEAD — Alliance for Human Effectiveness and Advancement — will build the command and control system and other facilities at defense contractors and a medical center across the Miami Valley.
The Wright State Research Institute-led consortium comprised of mostly private industry partners have paid for the system in the hope the Air Force and other agencies will use the system.
“Collectively, we’re building a capability that will be unmatched anywhere in the nation,” said Hugh K. Bolton, president and chief executive officer of the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center in Beavercreek.
“Building this here for the Air Force, we can do it faster than they can and we can help advance their research,” said Stephanie Gottschlich, spokeswoman at the Wright State Research Institute.
