Verus® Research, a New Mexico-based team of scientists and engineers specializing in advanced research and development, announced it has been awarded a $1.8 million, three-year contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)’s Space Vehicles Directorate for Position and Navigation Threats Heuristic Engagement (PANTHER) simulator. Verus Research will combine its specialties in electronic warfare (EW), space and autonomy and software development and applications with the goal of maintaining U.S. electromagnetic spectrum superiority in space by assessing potential threats to satellite position, navigation and timing (PNT) signals.
“We are honored to receive this contract with the AFRL to further develop technologies that will aid the military in future operations,” said Dr. J. Mark DelGrande, chief technology officer at Verus Research. “As we employ a multi-disciplinary approach to overcoming this technical challenge, it is a true testament to our ‘one team’ culture as we work together to provide meaningful solutions for the nation’s most difficult problems.”
This program is Verus Research’s first opportunity to provide direct support to the Distributed Mission Operations Center (DMOC), located at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico and operated by Air Combat Command’s 705th Combat Training Squadron. The DMOC’s large-scale, virtual environments allow the Air Force to run wargame campaigns and learn how friendly and adversarial units will act and respond during high-stakes operations.
Verus Research will develop PANTHER to help the Air Force further understand the EW environment, how PNT is affected by adversaries, the implications of PNT-denial on multi-agent mission/engagement-level scenarios, and how to mitigate the effects. It will also assist in understanding how to counter adversaries and how to develop and test less vulnerable PNT technologies.