Autonomous Unmanned Systems Teaming and Collaboration (AUSTC)

The U.S. Army Materiel Command Research Development and Engineering Command awarded a Master IDIQ for Autonomous Unmanned Systems Teaming and Collaboration in GPS Denied Environments (AUSTC) on September 5, 2018, with ordering authority closing September 3, 2023 — the vehicle is no longer active and no new task orders may be issued.

The AUSTC was a 100% small business set-aside vehicle at the originating solicitation stage, structured as a multiple-award IDIQ with a shared ceiling of $49.999976 million. The originating RFP (W15QKN18R0006) solicited five-year, firm-fixed-price contracts from small businesses within NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services) and a $38.5 million size standard. However, all eight task orders awarded under the vehicle were issued without set-aside designation; the actual usage diverged from the solicitation's small-business-set-aside framing.

Task-order activity front-loaded at vehicle inception: six orders were placed in 2018 (four minimum-guarantee awards of five hundred dollars each, plus two substantive orders), with one order in 2019 and one in 2020. No orders were placed in the remaining three years of the ordering period. The most recent award was September 25, 2020. Combined task-order potential value reached $2.9 million, with all value obligated; the vehicle captured 5.8% of its $49.999976 million shared ceiling.

Dhpc Technologies, Inc. and Robotic Research Opco, LLC dominated the awardee base, capturing $1.9 million and $960 thousand in combined potential value respectively across two orders each. Four additional small-business primes—Shield Ai Inc., Archarithms Inc., Accelerated Development & Support Corporation, and one unnamed contractor—received minimum-guarantee awards of five hundred dollars each. All task orders funded Army Materiel Command Research Development and Engineering Command requirements; no cross-agency customer base developed.

Substantive work centered on autonomous unmanned systems development, including controller design for unmanned ammunition handling systems. The two largest orders were firm-fixed-price awards with durations of approximately 12 months (one extended by six months at no additional cost). The vehicle's utility for new work entry has ended; any ongoing requirements under AUSTC must migrate to a successor vehicle or new procurement.

The U.S. Army, U.S. Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) has awarded a Master IDIQ for Autonomous Unmanned Systems Teaming and Collaboration in GPS Denied Environments (AUSTC).