Air Force approaches industry for hardware-in-the-loop test and measurement tech for weapons evaluation

Summary points:

• Air Force wants industry input for developing cutting-edge guidance and navigation technologies for hardware-in-the-loop weapons testing.
• Key areas are dynamic multispectral scene projection, GNSS and alternative navigation simulation, datalink and radio comms modeling, and high-speed real-time flight simulations.
• Companies must submit enhanced white papers to Air Force officials by 20 May 2026 for consideration.

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – U.S. Air Force weapons evaluation experts are asking industry to design prototype advanced navigation and guidance sensors for weapons hardware-in-the-loop testing and evaluation.

Officials of the Air Force Test Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., have issued a request for enhanced white papers for Hardware-in-the-loop of Advanced Navigation and Guidance Sensors (HANGS) project.

Air Force test and measurement experts are asking industry for prototype technologies to improve weapons hardware-in-the-loop test and evaluation in four areas: dynamic real-time multispectral scene generation, projection, and injection; midcourse and navigation simulation; datalink and radio communication simulation; and high-frame-rate real-time simulation.

Dynamic real-time multispectral scene generation, projection, and injection involves rendering band-specific imagery for projection or injection into one or more sensors.

Navigation simulation

Midcourse and navigation simulation involves real-time projection and injection capabilities for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and alternative PNT solutions like propagation, environmental, and countermeasure effects.

Datalink and radio communication simulations involves real-time projection and injection for multi-protocol datalink and radio communication among several guided-weapons and digital simulations of weapons.

This technology area includes propagation, environmental, and countermeasure effects; simulation of large networks, network loading, and transport; and simulation of commercial low Earth orbit satellite communication networks.

Related: Test and measurement equipment keeps high-tech systems in working order

High-frame-rate real-time simulation involves computers that can carry out correlated real-time flight simulations for several systems at very high frame rates, such as graphics processor-based computation.

Companies interested should email enhanced white papers no later than 20 May 2026 to the Air Force's Heather Stiles at [email protected] and Logan Deming at [email protected]. Email questions and concerns to Stiles and Deming at the addresses above.

More information is online at https://sam.gov/opp/64028a1bc25d4b119960143768442d9a/view.