IN Brief:
- SciTec has received a $1.5 million extension to its US Air Force Cloud-Based Command and Control contract, raising the total value to $31 million.
- The additional work covers integration of an approved category of counter-UAS sensor data into the existing operational fusion system.
- The programme supports the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System and wider efforts to integrate information across command-and-control networks.
SciTec, a subsidiary of Firefly Aerospace, has secured a $1.5 million extension to its US Air Force Cloud-Based Command and Control (CBC2) contract, expanding the sensor information available within the service’s operational data fusion system. The additional work will integrate a new category of approved counter uncrewed aerial system sensor feeds into the Advanced Battle Management System, bringing the total value of SciTec’s CBC2 contract to $31 million. The extension builds on the company’s existing responsibility for combining information from different sources into a shared operational environment.
The award was made through the Department of the Air Force’s Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management organisation, which is responsible for developing elements of the wider Air Force Battle Network. SciTec has been working on the CBC2 programme through an initial $24 million award made in 2024 and subsequent contract options. In June 2026, the Air Force exercised a $5.5 million option after selecting the company’s data fusion approach following a competitive evaluation. The latest extension adds a further category of information to that established system rather than commissioning an entirely new command platform.
Within CBC2, a data fusion layer combines observations from sensors and operational systems whose formats, precision and reporting rates may differ. Different sources may contribute observations about aircraft, other objects or activity within an area, but the information they provide can vary substantially in format, precision and the frequency at which it is updated. A data fusion system must handle those differences while making the combined information available to applications and personnel responsible for assessing the operational situation. SciTec’s role centres on the software used to perform that integration.
The counter-UAS extension introduces information from sensors observing smaller uncrewed aircraft, whose detections and classifications can differ from conventional air surveillance data. The observations may vary in accuracy, coverage and classification detail, while small targets can present difficulties associated with environmental conditions or other objects detected nearby. Integrating an additional sensor category therefore involves more than transferring its output to an existing display.
To make those observations usable across the command environment, the system must represent incoming data in forms other applications can interpret. Measurements may require conversion into common formats, while differences in timestamps and location information must be handled so that observations can be compared. Where several sensors detect the same object, the software may need to correlate those observations into a common track or assessment. Information about the origin and quality of the underlying measurements remains necessary to prevent a combined presentation from concealing uncertainty in the data.
Even after several sensor feeds are combined, detecting an object, maintaining a track and identifying its type remain separate tasks. A sensor may indicate that an object is present without providing sufficient evidence to identify its type, while subsequent observations can help establish movement or other characteristics. Bringing information together may support a more complete assessment, but it cannot automatically compensate for data that has not been collected or for deficiencies in the individual sensors. SciTec has not specified which additional counter-UAS sensors will be connected under the latest extension or disclosed their detection performance.
When that information reaches CBC2 applications, the fusion layer must keep its interpretation consistent as new sources and processing functions are added. Software changes that introduce a new source can therefore affect the way information is processed and presented elsewhere in the system. Integration testing must establish that the new data is handled appropriately without disrupting functions already in use, particularly where the platform supports operational command activities.
SciTec’s broader software portfolio includes processing and analysis for missile warning, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and space domain awareness. Those activities involve different sensing technologies and operational requirements, but they share a need to process large volumes of information and make the results accessible to mission systems. The company provides software capable of operating in cloud environments, local computing infrastructure and equipment closer to the source of data. The specific distribution of these processing functions within the CBC2 counter-UAS expansion has not been disclosed.
The Air Force is developing CBC2 as part of a wider architecture intended to connect information and command functions across different organisations and operating environments. Its approach depends on the ability to incorporate additional sensors and applications as requirements change, rather than replacing the entire system whenever a new capability becomes available. SciTec’s existing selection as a data fusion provider gives it an established role within that architecture, while the new extension creates another integration and testing requirement for the software already being delivered.
David Simenc, President of SciTec, has identified the system’s capacity to accommodate additional sources as a central element of the work. That capability must ultimately be demonstrated through successful integration of the selected equipment and validation of the information delivered to operational users. Although the company has described its underlying architecture as scalable, no figures have been published for the number of counter-UAS sensors that can be connected, data processing latency or the system’s performance under degraded communications conditions. Those characteristics remain dependent on the particular deployment and configuration.
The extension raises SciTec’s total CBC2 contract value to $31 million, combining the original work with subsequent options and the newly awarded integration activity. The company has not disclosed a separate completion date or detailed acceptance milestones for the counter-UAS feeds. Its next programme activity will involve adapting the existing fusion system to receive and process the additional approved sources, followed by the testing needed to establish their contribution to the operational command environment. The contract expands an existing software integration programme rather than establishing that all new counter-drone capabilities have already entered service.
