Air Force awards $630M contract to move weather forecasting to the cloud
The Air Force‘s 557th Weather Wing selected SAIC to develop and modernize “critical” hardware and software for advanced weather forecasting and move to a more cloud-based system.
The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has a ceiling of $630 million to work on the Technology Application Development and Sustainment (TADS) system for the unit. The contract includes functions like application development, software integration, application infrastructure, cloud migration, hardware, security and data management, according to a news release.
The Air Force wants to modernize its weather forecasting to better predict storms that could impact operations. Much of forecasting comes down to data management, which SAIC said it will improve through a more cloud-based approach.
“TADS will move the service to a software-centric, cloud-based approach to efficiently respond to mission needs, including disaster recovery and increased collaboration,” says the release.
The new systems that SAIC will deliver to the Air Force will allow for larger data analysis and to implement machine learning algorithms to use that data.
“Air Force warfighters need the latest and most accurate weather data to effectively carry out their mission, and TADS will provide them with innovative new capabilities to provide critical environmental situational awareness when and where they are needed,” said Bob Genter, SAIC executive vice president and general manager.
