Structures Engineering Research Program (SERP)

The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded this Master IDIQ on December 21, 2018, for structures engineering research and development supporting air and space vehicle design, but ordering closed on December 20, 2023, and the vehicle is no longer accepting new task orders. The combined potential value across all 12 awarded task orders is $51.7 million, with $40.1 million obligated to date.

This is a successor to the TRIAD Program and operates as an unrestricted, single-award vehicle to University of Dayton, which dominates the work. University of Dayton holds 6 of 12 task orders representing $32.9 million in combined potential value—64% of the vehicle's total. Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. has 4 orders totaling $13.5 million, and Arctos Technology Solutions has 2 orders valued at $5.4 million. No task orders carry small-business set-asides.

Scope encompasses conceptual design studies, experimental test planning and execution, model fabrication and modification, analytical and experimental data analyses, systems engineering assessments, technology assessments, and computational analyses across ten research areas: Structural Response Prediction, Structural Life Forecasting, Structural Integrity, Geometry Modeling and Design, Multidisciplinary Modeling and Analysis, Adaptive Structures, Multifunctional Structures, Hybrid Structures, Thermal Structures, and Experimental Validation. Recent orders cover digital-twin software engineering, aircraft structures prototyping and testing, aerospace system design and analysis, and modeling of system effectiveness. Work is performed at Air Force Research Laboratory facilities, industry and university facilities, and mutually agreed locations.

Ordering momentum has been sparse. The vehicle saw 4 orders in its first year and 4 more in 2021, but only 1 order in 2022 and 1 in 2025. All orders are Cost Plus Fixed Fee. The most recent task order, awarded December 21, 2025, carries a $17.5 million ceiling and obligated $11.6 million for multidisciplinary aerospace system design, analysis, building, and testing, completing October 21, 2026. Department of the Air Force funds roughly 88% of orders by combined potential value; the remainder funds the Air Force Research Laboratory directly.

The Aerospace Vehicles Division of the Air Force Research Laboratory has been conducting Research and Development (R&D) programs through the Technology Research, Integration & Demonstration (TRIAD) Program. The SERP Program is a follow-on Master IDIQ to the TRIAD Program. Through the use of SERP Program task orders, air and space vehicle structures R&D will be conducted to deliver future air and space vehicle capabilities to the Warfighter. R&D activities will include, but is not limited to, conceptual design studies, experimental test planning and execution, model fabrication/modification, analytical and experimental data analyses, systems engineering assessments, technology assessments and evaluations, and computational analyses.