Quick Reaction Fund

Abstract

The Quick Reaction Special Projects (QSRP) Program supports four separate project codes that provide rapid funding to expedite development and transition of new prototypical technologies to the warfighter. The QSRP Program provides the flexibility and agility to mitigate emerging threats and address needs that arise faster than the two-year budget cycle. The Quick Reaction Fund (QRF) Program provides the Services, components, Combatant Commands (CCMDs), and force providers opportunities to capitalize on relatively mature technologies to rapidly develop and field-test promising new proof-of-principle prototypes that can have immediate impact on time-sensitive operational needs. QRF initiatives typically deliver a prototype application within 12 months of being funded. The QRF Program focuses on projects that have the potential to address conventional, disruptive, and asymmetric warfare needs through rapidly developed and fielded hardware. More specifically, the QRF Program includes initiatives that serve to maintain a technical advantage over potential adversaries and reduce technical risk barriers in the following interest areas: counter anti-access and area denial capabilities; base protection; electromagnetic bandwidth and spectrum enhancement; persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; newly emerging national threats; human-machine collaborative decision making; and, counter-electronic warfare technologies. In FY 2017 and FY 2018, the QRF Program will continue to identify and fund new, rapidly developed prototypes and technology demonstrations that respond to critical operational needs and emerging threats. Investments are made in the execution year for agile response to Department, CCMD, Service, and other government organization identified threats and opportunities. Recent success stories and significant transitions of note include: • Columbia: This project is an electronic countermeasure system designed to address a specific threat to U.S. forces. Details are classified. The Columbia effort delivered a size, weight, and power (SWaP) assessment and laboratory electromagnetic interference/electromagnetic compatibility (EMI/EMC) analysis of a sustainable, maintainable, self-contained capability that will mitigate the effects of an attack by an overwhelming number of threats - individually or simultaneously. Columbia transitioned to the Air Force in 2016. • Dark Storm: This project successfully developed and fielded low-cost, innovative space situational awareness (SSA) capabilities. Data collected from six remote sites was transferred and consolidated at a central site to provide increased SSA. The full capability transitioned to a classified customer. • Deer Hunting: As a follow-on to the initial prototype, this project automated a proven target discovery process that was demonstrated for the National Security Agency (NSA). The automation allowed Deer Hunting to scale and transition to other projects using a target agnostic approach. The classified capability transitioned to U.S. Central Command and other missions within the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. • Interruption of Wide-Area Sensing Capability (IWAS): Persistent, wide-area surveillance capabilities threaten U.S. Navy open-ocean supremacy. The IWAS project developed an electronic attack technique effective against wide-area surveillance sensors to disrupt their kill-chain. The project successfully demonstrated the electronic attack capability before transitioning it to Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to support development of specific applications. Further details are classified.

Document Details

• Document Type: Project
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2018
• Source ID: P826_0603826D8Z_3_0400_PB_2018

Tags

Readers

• Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
• Military Science and Technology Research and Modernization.

Technology Areas

• Microelectronics
• Space