Pacific Defense awarded US Navy contract to progress AI and machine learning enabled EW

Line of Defence Magazine - Update

Pacific Defense
Pacific Defense Distributed Battlefield Sensors. Image: Business Wire.

Pacific Defense and partners Perceptronics Solutions and Carnegie Mellon University awarded contract by US Office of Naval Research to innovate distributed battlefield sensors.


Provider of adaptive Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) products and mission solutions Pacific Defense has announced it was recently awarded a US$17.4 million contract by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to demonstrate advanced algorithms and software that reconfigures distributed battlefield sensors enabling delivery of multi-function effects from devices deployed at the tactical edge.

The edge devices will be built from Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) aligned hardware and software to provide the benefits of a truly open architecture, including the ability to rapidly and cost effectively integrate new hardware and software on a recurring basis.

The work will also prove out the Office of Naval Research’s Ubiquitous Edge distributed software architecture on multi-function edge nodes. This modular design enables the creation of a secure EW software defined radio (SDR) multi-function operating environment that will accelerate future capability deployment.

The awarded contract will be led by Pacific Defense with support from Perceptronics Solutions and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).

“Pacific Defense is pleased to work with our partners at Perceptronics and CMU to advance SOSA aligned sensing applications that will allow our customers to extend their reach all the way to the tactical edge,” said Frank Pietryka, VP of EW, SIGINT, and Autonomy at Pacific Defense.

The contract has a 24-month period of performance running through February of 2026.

RiskNZ