ZKXKZ LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: AF212-CSO1
ZKXKZ LLC — SBIR Phase II award from Department of Defense.
Phase II SBIR prototype / development signal
- Phase II is where Department of Defense funds deeper R&D after feasibility. Incumbents with Phase II history are serious competitors on adjacent topics.
- Use this award as past-performance context and to map customer organizations for STRATFI/TACFI-style transition planning.
- Obligated amount $750,000 is consistent with substantial Phase II-scale effort; compare to related awards from the same agency.
- Topic code AF212-CSO1 links this award to a solicitation family — search the same topic stem for incumbents and recompete timing.
- Amount
- $750,000
- Agency
- Department of Defense · Air Force
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase II
- Topic
- AF212-CSO1
- Solicitation
- X21.2
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- MA
- Period
- 2022-07-21 → 2023-10-25
Description
Fragmenting warhead performance is measured using arena tests. A warhead is surrounded by thousands of 4’x8’, ½”-thick boards. Following detonation, fragments embed into these boards. A labor-intensive process now begins. Techs hand-search each board. When a fragment is found, it is extracted, cleaned, weighed, its location identified, and material type noted. It can take 30 hours and $3,000 to pick a single bundle of 48 layers. A large test can cost $500,000 in labor. ZKxKZ developed FRAG-X to greatly reduce time and expense of picking an arena test while increasing data fidelity. Our quantitative x-ray system worked extremely well in a recent man-versus-machine comparison pitting experienced DOD fragment pickers against our automated hardware/software. Results demonstrated superiority of our quantitative x-ray approach in every performance measure. We predict our PIII system will ultimately be 20X faster, reduce labor cost 20X (not percent), and find 50% more fragments than hand picking. FRAG-X is currently TRL 6/7. Proposed work will automate material handling, sharpen analytical methods, and finalize user interfaces. We will reach TRL 8/9 by the end of proposed PII. FRAG-X development receives enthusiastic support by the entire DOD arena test community (see MOU and cross-agency letters of support in proposal).