On August 12, the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S), Project Manager Positioning Navigation & Timing (PM PNT), the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) and the C5ISR (Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) Center, announced the xTechPlugfest Competition also known as the PNT CMOSS Plugfest. The Army will host the PNT CMOSS Plugfest at the Open Innovation Lab (OIL) from 8 – 19 November 2021. The OIL is a truly open collaborative space where industry, academia, and government can join forces to create the cutting edge of PNT technology.
PEO IEW&S, PM PNT and DEVCOM C5ISR have partnered with the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology) (ASA(ALT)) to deliver this competition. The Army recognizes that it must continue enhancing engagements with eligible businesses by (1) understanding the spectrum of ‘world-class’ technologies being developed commercially that may benefit the Department of Defense (DoD) and (2) integrating the sector of commercial innovators into the DoD Science and Technology (S&T) ecosystem. PNT CMOSS Plugfest will allow for cooperation between eligible businesses and Army PNT stakeholders, provide for prize money, and enable government stakeholders to provide feedback to these businesses to help accelerate the transition of technology into the Army.
The PNT CMOSS Plugfest will provide non-dilutive seed prizes to select entities to attend and participate to demonstrate capabilities that currently exist for (1) PNT CMOSS cards, (2) CMOSS switch cards and (3) CMOSS chassis to meet CMOSS compliance. Ultimately 15 entities will be invited to demonstrate their technology solutions at the PNT CMOSS Plugfest event tentatively scheduled between 8-19 November 2021 at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD, compete for prize money and up to five (5) overall winners may be invited to submit a proposal for a follow-on prototype award for their cards and/or chassis solutions (contract amounts TBD).
The Army needs CMOSS (C5ISR/Electronic Warfare Modular Open Suite of Standards) solutions that address the overburdened vehicle platform size, weight, power and cooling (SWaP-C) shortcomings while enabling Multi-Domain Operations (MDO). Solutions need to minimize platform specific integration, and enable the fielding of subsequent capabilities (i.e., circuit card assemblies) without the need of any additional cabling or mounts.
PM PNT efforts focus on developing an assured PNT (A-PNT) capability as CMOSS. PM PNT is looking to understand what capabilities currently exist for (1) PNT CMOSS cards, (2) CMOSS switch cards and (3) CMOSS chassis while learning what development efforts are underway to meet CMOSS compliance.
Review the full Plugfest information.
Source: SAM
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