The U.S. Army would like to invite interested companies to participate in the Innovation Combine at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Futures Conference, being tentatively held 23-25 June 2020 in Austin, TX. The Innovation Combine, scheduled to take place on 24 June 2020, will provide a forum to collaborate with the Army, earn prize money, and provide potential funding opportunities to tackle Army challenges with scalable power and energy solutions and novel materials for weight reduction and survivability. Prize money will be awarded to selected projects through the Army xTech Vector program and funding opportunities will be available through the Ground Vehicle Systems Other Transaction Agreement.
Purpose and Process
The purpose of the Innovation Combine is to deliver an innovative approach to compete for an award in the accelerating military technology ecosystem. Submissions will be open to prototype* projects that may considerably improve Army platforms, Army weapons systems, or Army support systems. Topic areas and associated problem statements are listed below. Only U.S.-based companies or organizations are considered eligible to participate in this effort. White papers that do not address the problem statements below or submitted from non U.S.-based companies or organizations will not be considered for this effort.
Topic A: Scalable power and energy solutions
Problem Statement A: The Army has a need for lighter, energy dense, safe, rechargeable batteries that can be demonstrated at the battery prototype level of 400Whr/kg (cell level 500Whr/kg) -or- a small form factor power generation system that could include fuel cells or small engine technologies to recharge batteries while on the move that is light weight, (< 5-6 lbs., including fuel).
Topic B: Novel materials for weight reduction and survivability
Problem Statement B: For military ground vehicle structures, ballistic and blast load requirements often trump structural requirements, leading to very thick structures. Contrary to aerostructures, for thick ground vehicle structures, materials with high strength and elongation capabilities are better than ultra-high stiffness materials. To enable lightweight military ground vehicles, there is a need for affordable materials that are resilient to high loading rate events and are able to absorb large amounts of energy without breaking.
The process of this competition will consist of the following three (3) phases:
Phase I – Request for White Papers (RWP)
Phase II – Request for Prototype Proposals (RPP)
Phase III – Presentations
Please click below for full announcement, deadlines and submission guidelines.
Points of Contact
Phase I - RWP: The xTech Vector Team
Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, Research and Technology
Email: Click here to show email address
This is an opportunity outside of NAMC directly. Please send your questions to the points of contact listed on the SAM announcement, linked below.