Red 6 awarded additional US Air Force Contract for continued integration of its Augmented Reality pilot training system

In Augmented Reality News 

February 2, 2022 – Red 6, an augmented reality (AR) technology firm that provides military training applications for air combat training, has today announced that it has been awarded a contract from Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI), an implementation of the US Air Force (USAF) SBIR/STTR Supplemental Funding Pilot Program.

According to the Red 6, the award was granted in support of the continued integration of the company’s Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS) into the Air Force T-38 Talon. ATARS enables real pilots in real airplanes to train against, and interact with synthetically generated entities up in the sky. By allowing users to engage in complex training such as air-to-air refueling, formation flying and air combat maneuvering, the company believes that its technology will help to transform the quality, cost, and safety of airborne flight training.

“ATARS represents a transformational leap forward in augmented reality technology and by applying this capability to military flight training, we are ushering in a new paradigm in training that will ultimately scale to all warfighters, across all domains,” Daniel Robinson, Founder and CEO of Red 6.

Robinson continued: “We continue to be encouraged by the US Air Force’s confidence in both the Red 6 solution and our mission to revolutionize training for our warfighter,” adding, “Red 6 is ushering in a new era of training, and with the support of the US Air Force, we aim to deliver an extraordinary increase to readiness, proficiency, training capacity, and capability.”

The 2018 US National Defense Strategy identified the need to develop the US ‘National Security Innovation Base’ that involves heavy reliance on dual-use solutions. In order for these objectives to be accomplished, strong partnerships must be developed between USAF end-users, USAF acquisition professionals, and the private-sector portion of the National Security Innovation Base. The purpose of the TACFI pilot program is to catalyze those relationships and to bridge the capability gap between current SBIR/STTR efforts.

“Continued transformation of our pilot training system is vital to the Air Force’s future. We’re excited to see continued investment in this arena,” said Maj. Gen. Craig Wills, 19th Air Force Commander.

Building upon reported success of its T-38 integration, Red 6 stated that it now plans to integrate into the T-45 aircraft, followed by fourth generation aircraft including the F-16 and F-15E.

The company has seen several contract awards along with investment funding in recent years, and opened new offices in the US in 2021 to help drive its growth. For more information on Red 6 and its Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System, please visit the company’s website.

Image credit: Red 6

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.