Target Arm & MIT Announce Air Force Phase 1 STTR Contract for Arsenal Aircraft

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. - March 1, 2021 - PRLog -- Target Arm Inc. is pleased to announce the United States Air Force/AFWERX awarded a Phase 1 Small-business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) titled, Arsenal Aircraft for Persistent Air Dominance with UAV/UCAVs. Target Arm is partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through MIT Innovation Initiative's Mission Innovation Program, for this three-month long contract.

Jeff McChesney, CEO & Founder said, "I am so excited to be teamed with MIT on this project with their very deep aeronautical engineering and DoD collaboration experience. Not only is our device, called Tular, ideal for ground and maritime drone operations, but it was originally conceived for onboard our military cargo aircraft. I invented Tular to be onboard an arsenal aircraft (C-5/C-17/C-130) and now we get to begin the process of bringing that to life. This STTR contract not only validates the hard work and engineering we've done with Tular development to date, but also the vision of what Tular can become."

MIT Innovation Initiative is an integral part of this STTR as we perform feasibility studies, to include computer modeling and gaining a consensus within the Air Force for additional prototyping and fundamental research. The knowledge gained may provide additional insight with other aeronautical robotics programs within the DoD.

MIT Innovation Initiative Executive Director, Gene Keselman added, "We look forward to our relationship with Target Arm in their efforts to solve a very difficult aeronautical problem – repeatedly and reliably launching and recovering drones from another airplane. This is an exciting project that we are proud to have as part of our Dual-use Ventures Incubator."

AFRL and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research process in an attempt to speed up the experience, broaden the pool of potential applicants and decrease bureaucratic overhead. Beginning in SBIR 18.2, and now in 21.1, the Air Force has begun offering 'Special' SBIR topics that are faster, leaner and open to a broader range of innovations.

Target Arm is an ultra-leading-edge platform manufacturer in the Drone Industry. While not a drone a company, Target Arm builds a device (Tular) that enables launch and recovery of both rotary and fixed-wing drones from any moving vehicle, train, plane, truck or ship; autonomously, and even during windy conditions. Tular is dual use, working equally well for commercial applications (package delivery, Oil & Gas inspections, energy, windfarms, first responders, etc.) and for military applications.

About Target Arm

Target Arm Inc. is a Connecticut-based firm that produces Tular, a patented device that enables rotary and fixed wing drones to be launched and recovered from any moving vehicle autonomously, and even during windy conditions. Target Arm, a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), provides both military and commercial solutions with the exact same device for drones on-the-move. Target Arm is a graduate of the 2020 Air Force Accelerator Powered by Techstars, the 2020 Endless Frontier Labs accelerator and is a resident at the MassRobotics incubator in Boston. To learn more about Target Arm, visit https://www.targetarm.com.

About MIT Innovation Initiative

Founded at MIT (https://web.mit.edu/) in 2013, MIT Innovation Initiative is charged with delivering innovation to the I&E Ecosystem by identifying problems and creating solutions faster, more effectively, and at scale; and to focus and amplify MIT's natural strength in innovation in service to the world. The organization is a team of unceasingly inquisitive, data-obsessed problem solvers—academics, business professionals, military, alumni, and community-builders—dedicated to stewarding the innovation process from idea to world-changing impact. Learn more: https://innovation.mit.edu and https://innovation.mit.edu/mission-innovation-program.