U.S. Navy awards contract to Beacon to deliver forward sustainment platform for UUVs

Beacon Interactive Systems was awarded a contract with the U.S. Navy's Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) to evolve the Beacon Platform into 'FLEX' (Forward Logistics Expeditionary Platform), a digital platform to address the unique management and sustainment needs of forward-deployed unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The contract includes the development of FLEX – configured from Beacon's existing software and informed by iterative and active engagement with end-users.

With partner company, Proteq – a veteran-owned small business with experience in UUV sustainment – this team will build a solution congregating near-real-time awareness of an otherwise disparate UUV fleet. FLEX's fleet-wide coordination of maintenance and UUV operations at the edge will shorten repair timelines and increase asset availability while providing visibility into readiness, configuration management, operations, and logistics. The FLEX data model will then become the structured basis from which well-provenanced data analytics can inform mission critical impacts in contested logistics environments.

"This contract is an exciting extension of our ability to support the warfighter at the edge – especially as the Navy pivots to the Pacific,” says Beacon's President & CTO Mike MacEwen.

Beacon's previously developed digital solutions are currently in use across over 200 Navy ships, 19 ship classes, and multiple land-based facilities.

As the newest edition to Beacon's suite of digital solutions, FLEX will revolutionize the management and sustainment of unmanned systems from underwater to aerial drones and other remotely operated vehicles – a promising step forward for the future of defense technology.