A US Air Force F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. Credit: US Air Force photo by Master Sgt Donald R. Allen/commons.wikimedia.org.

KBR has secured a US Air Force (USAF) cost-plus, fixed-fee task order to advance optoelectronic technology research.

The USAF’s 774th Enterprise Sourcing Squadron (ESS) awarded the recompete under the Department of Defense (DoD) Information Analysis Center’s (IAC) Multiple Award Contract (MAC).

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It will support the US Air Force Research Laboratory Sensors Directorate’s Optoelectronic Technology Branch (RYDH).

KBR Global Government Solutions president Byron Bright said: “Our team will advance optoelectronic technology research through this recompete.

“We’re excited to continue our collaborative relationship with RYDH, which has already produced 45 conference presentations and four patents awarded as a direct result of our ongoing work over the last five years.”

Under the $48.5m contract, KBR will analyse military and commercial developmental devices with a focus on ‘emerging electronic, plasmonic, electro-optic, and photonic technology.’

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The company will also perform analyses of lasers, waveguides, detectors and focal plane array.

Furthermore, KBR will also analyse materials such as semiconductors, nonlinear crystals and laser gain media, as well as applications of the subject devices and materials.

Work under the contract will be performed over a five-year period in Dayton, Ohio, US.

According to the company, applications for this research exist for almost every airborne platform.

These include the F-35 Lightning II, spacecraft such as Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, as well as ground-based and modular sensing packages.

Over the past ten years, KBR has been supporting the research and development (R&D) of laser systems for the USAF’s RYDH.

In October last year, KBR received an $88m task order to perform sustainment engineering on the USAF F-16 Fighting Falcon.

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