AFWERX selects City Labs for a Small Business Innovation Research Direct to Phase 2 contract to adapt tritium-powered COMSEC systems that will work at the nanowatt power level for the U.S Air Force.
March 16th, 2023 – City Labs announces it has been selected by AFWERX for a SBIR Direct to Phase 2 in the amount of 1.25 million USD focused on Communications Security (COMSEC) systems that will be powered by City Labs’ Model P100 commercial tritium battery to protect critical data.
Unlike lithium batteries, the tritium battery will power the COMSEC system for the lifetime of the device (20+ years), never requiring replacement. City Labs is working with a vendor of NSA certified COMSEC systems to explore ultra-low power designs (nanowatts) for security critical standby power. This effort will allow for the Model P100 to power the COMSEC system at ultra-low power where the battery can be inserted directly onto the COMSEC device’s circuit board as a surface mount device.
The proposed tritium betavoltaic powered COMSEC system will be capable of achieving the desired lifespan under extreme thermal conditions and meet rigorous vibration, shock, and other environmental conditions. Through this effort, City Labs will investigate its potential to improve usability, effectiveness, and suitability of COMSEC systems used across the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and the Department of Defense (DOD). “With this tritium battery technology, we will guarantee the secure communications for our warfighters” -Peter Cabauy, CEO City Labs, Inc.
The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through a faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and losing bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering ‘The Open Topic’ SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and now as of February 9th, 2023, City Labs started its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.
About City Labs
City Labs, a Florida corporation, designs, develops, and manufactures tritium betavoltaic batteries for microelectronics, sensors, and other devices commonly used in aerospace/defense, medical implants, and industrial markets. City Labs has a regulatory-licensed R&D/manufacturing facility located in Miami, Florida. For more information visit: www.citylabs.net.
About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace force. With a workforce of more than 11,000 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit: https://afresearchlab.com/.
About AFWERX
AFWERX, a program office at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), connects innovators across government, industry and academia. Through innovation and collaboration with our nation’s top subject-matter experts and harnessing the power of ingenuity of internal talent, by expanding technology, talent, and transition partnerships for rapid and affordable commercial and military capability. Additional information is available at: https://www.afwerx.com/.
About AFVentures
AFVentures invests in emerging technologies to scale Department of the Air Force capabilities, strengthening the US industrial base that empowers Airmen and Guardians by incentivizing private, for-profit investment in national security interests. Our success is achieved by connecting novel commercial solutions with defense problem sets, de-risking Airmen and Guardian initiatives to fill capability gaps and transition technologies. Learn more at https://afwerx.com/afventures-overview/.
Company Press Contact: info@citylabs.net
