This is a cost-plus-fixed-fee definitive contract awarded by the Department of the Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory to RTX Corporation, doing business as the Raytheon Technologies Research Center, for the development of transpiration-cooled leading edges. The contract has a potential value of $3,387,090.00 and a completion date of September 29, 2022. It does not have a set-aside designation.
Under this contract, the prime contractor RTX Corporation is collaborating with two major subcontractors: the University of Colorado (CU) and the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory (PSU ARL). CU is responsible for the topology optimization of the cooling architecture and structural design, while PSU ARL is tasked with manufacturing development, article fabrication, and a cost study related to the Field Assisted Sintering Technique (FAST) process for bonding tantalum-tungsten materials to create the leading edge design.
This contract supports the Air Force's broader research and development efforts in advanced materials and thermal management technologies for hypersonic flight applications.