Raytheon secures Mentor-Protégé agreements with ANACAPA Micro Products and Nara Logics.
Raytheon, part of RTX, has been awarded two Mentor-Protégé agreements by the Department of the Navy Office of Small Business Programs to help advance operational Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the U.S. Department of Defense, according to a company press release.
The initiatives, supported by NAVAIR and the Office of Naval Research, aim to integrate AI into defence systems to improve decision-making capabilities.
Over the next three years, Raytheon will collaborate with two small businesses, Anacapa Micro Products, Inc. and Nara Logics, Inc., focusing on system design, software architecture, and systems integration, as well as addressing IT security and compliance requirements.
The partnership is part of the Department of Defense’s Mentor-Protégé Programme, which has been running since 1990 to foster collaboration between larger defence contractors and smaller businesses.
Colin Whelan, president of Advanced Technology at Raytheon, described the programme as crucial for integrating innovations from small businesses into broader defence strategies. “The Mentor Protégé Programme is an essential element of our overall supplier diversity small business strategy,” Whelan stated in a press release. According to the company, these collaborations could bring commercial innovations into military applications, potentially improving defence capabilities.
Raytheon, which has been involved in the Mentor-Protégé Programme since 1991, says that these agreements will help develop AI-driven autonomous capabilities to improve military decision-making.
