North Dakota Senator John Hoeven has secured an agreement in principle with the Department of Defense (DoD) to increase the contract ceiling for Project ULTRA to USD 100 million, up from USD 18 million.
Launched in May 2024, Project ULTRA is a collaborative effort involving federal organisations and private entities such as NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory and MITRE. The initiative aims to boost logistics and traffic management within the National Airspace System (NAS) by using uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) technology.
Hoeven said that the higher funding ceiling “creates the opportunity for all military services to connect with expertise in the private sector utilising Project ULTRA” and “will enable DoD to more cost-effectively and quickly develop the capabilities it needs, including counter-drone technology”.
Hoeven also announced on Friday that Project ULTRA has started conducting regular uncrewed cargo flights between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Cavalier Space Force Station.
Under this initiative, the project partners will fly UAS carrying up to 25 pounds of cargo between the two military installations on a weekly basis for the next year. This is believed to be the first such UAS operation on a military base flying through the national airspace (NAS) and without a chase plane.
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Image: (US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Brody Katka)
