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The Army’s Redstone Test Center acquired four Navy MQ-8C Fire Scout aircraft in July 2025 to test Army sensor packages, extending the platform’s use beyond its planned divestment timeline. The existing effort may create follow-on demand for sensor integration, test support, mission-control systems, spare engines, and related equipment, but no solicitation, contract value, or procurement contact is identified.
The Army designated Camp Atterbury and Muscatatuck Urban Training Center as Premier Test Ranges under its Permissive Test Range Expansion Initiative. The sites may give commercial developers access to specialized facilities, restricted airspace, and Army Test and Evaluation Command support, creating a testing pathway—not a contract award—for technologies including unmanned systems and counter-drone capabilities.
SpaceWERX facilitated a Direct-to-Phase-II SBIR award to The Tech7 Company to prototype PLATE, an AWS-based, unclassified testbed for developing and evaluating applications for potential use in Space Development Agency tranches and the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. Work is scheduled to begin in October 2026; the award value and contract number were not disclosed, and a future Phase III is a possible transition path—not an open solicitation or guaranteed award.