Torrance-Based Intellisense Systems Awarded USAF Weather Station Contract
Funding from the Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) agreement will further ruggedize and enhance the revolutionary Integrated Weather Observation System, recently chosen as the next-generation tactical weather station for the United States Air Force
Torrance-based Intellisense Systems Inc., a leading provider of advanced environmental-sensing solutions, was awarded an AFWERX Strategic and Tactical Funding Increase (STRATFI/TACFI) contract to further improve the Integrated Weather Observation System (IWOS), a smaller, man-portable, tactical meteorological observing system (TMOS) that addresses one of the most pressing weather challenges in the Department of the Air Force.
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) sequential Phase II contract will provide funding to further ruggedize and enhance the IWOS, which was recently selected as the primary man-portable weather station used by the USAF in gathering essential meteorological data from remote airfields in austere terrain. The IWOS has already been deployed in remote and unmanned landing zones around the world and should fully replace all TMOS weather stations by 2027.
The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal-to-award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small businesses and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution.
The IWOS consolidates over a dozen key weather parameter sensors - including temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed/direction and cloud layer height to 25,000 ft. - into a single, ruggedized and innovative interlocking cylindrical design. The design enables end users to customize the system and monitor the exact weather parameters they need. It weighs just 25 pounds, fits inside a single case and takes only a few minutes for one service member to install. By contrast, the previous remote weather station consisted of multiple components, weighed approximately 100 pounds and required more time and at least 2 to 3 service members to set up. This solution will greatly improve the efficiency of USAF operations and the safety of Air Force service members in hostile terrain where meteorological data is limited and needed.
“The IWOS will soon be the most widely used tactical weather station for the Air Force,” said Christian Veeris, vice president of corporate business development at Intellisense Systems. “It supplies warfighters with a ruggedized, high-fidelity weather sensing solution in an innovative, small form-factor package. It provides our servicemen and women with an agile, light and highly accurate solution in dangerous terrain. This contract award is really a credit to our team who have revolutionized tactical weather stations with the IWOS.”