Tangram Flex, Inc., headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, announces they have been awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II contract. Tangram Flex is partnering with The Ohio State University to support the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Air Force Agility Prime "flying car" efforts under this contract, which is a follow-on to the Commoditised Confidence Through Software Assurance (CCSA) effort announced in December 2020.

The use of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in the commercial and defense sectors is growing exponentially. While new capabilities for UASs are becoming available at an ever-increasing cadence, the ability to integrate new software into existing systems presents serious risks of exposing cyber vulnerabilities. The U.S. Air Force is responding to these challenges in order to maintain air superiority. In this Phase II effort, Tangram Flex will support the Air Force with solutions to streamline the analysis and testing capabilities for UASs and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle systems. The solutions designed by Tangram Flex in partnership with The Ohio State University will provide high confidence in the correctness, safety, and cyber security of UASs and eVTOL vehicle systems.

"Tangram Flex is dedicated to building technology that enables our customers to rapidly integrate new capabilities with high levels of confidence," says Mr. Ricky Peters, CEO of Tangram Flex. "Our engineering team develops cutting-edge solutions in support of the Air Force. I'm incredibly proud of our team's skills and the code generation technologies we have built that empower our customers to engage in the next frontier of software-driven innovation."

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 20.C/D, the Air Force has begun offering 'The Open Topic' SBIR/STTR program that is faster, leaner and open to a broader range of innovations.