HUNTSVILLE — SAIC recently received the Edison Gold Award for Product and Service Development and Innovation for its Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems.
The Edison Awards, named for Thomas Edison, honor innovation and innovators that create a positive impact in the world.
“Believe it or not, we have a very lean CUAS team of about a dozen folks, so to be recognized like this on such a high level is very exciting,” said Greg Fortier, vice president of SAIC’s Fires, Aviation and Missile Defense business portfolio.
SAIC won in the Aerospace and Flight Technologies category for which CUAS took gold in Military Technology, Fortier said.
The open system CUAS software is designed for a single operator to interface with the most emerging technologies.
“If a threat evolves or the requirement evolves, you don’t want to be stuck with technology that is obsolete,” Fortier said. “But things are moving so quickly in our technology space, we decided our best tact would be to develop the best software out there that is clean and easy to use, and with that, we will be able to tie all these different elements together.”
SAIC has been developing CUAS solutions for the Armed Forces for more than a decade.
In the SAIC software customized for the military – but not exclusive to the military, the CUAS safeguards against drone threats using sensors and effectors within scalable, platform-agnostic, command-and-control capabilities.
Within the last 18 months, the CUAS have demonstrated 95% total mission effectiveness against multiple targets, protecting bases, commercial flights, and borders, Fortier said.
“We don’t have a single solution for a single customer,” he said. “We have multiple customers, and we can tailor the command-and-control aspects for each customer via our open system software.
“You do not get a box full of stuff. It is a box, and we tailor what goes in the box to what the customer needs, whether that is the military, the State Department, the U.S. border, or the Energy Department. It can also be tailored to a commercial entity like a prison, a school or an airport.”
SAIC was one of 150 finalists from 23 countries demonstrating innovative inventions and technology.
With 47 offices in the U.S., SAIC is one of Huntsville’s oldest Fortune 500 businesses, having been in Huntsville more than 40 years.
