Red 6 has been awarded a contract from Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI), an implementation of the U.S. Air Force SBIR/STTR Supplemental Funding Pilot Program. This award was granted in support of the continued integration of its Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS) into the Air Force T-38 Talon.

ATARS enables real pilots, in real airplanes to train against, and interact with synthetically generated entities, up in the sky. Users can engage in complex training such as air-to-air refueling, formation flying and air combat maneuvering.

The mission of the U.S. Air Force is to fly, fight and win – with airpower, anytime, anywhere. Red 6's technology supports this mission by training warfighters more effectively and efficiently to win in future conflicts. Building upon the success of the T-38 integration, Red 6 plans to integrate into the T-45, followed by fourth generation aircraft including the F-16 and F-15E.

"ATARS represents a transformational leap forward in Augmented Reality technology and by applying this capability to military flight training, we are ushering in a new paradigm in training that will ultimately scale to all warfighters, across all domains," said Daniel Robinson, Founder and CEO of Red 6.

The 2018 U.S. National Defense Strategy identified the need to develop the U.S. 'National Security Innovation Base' that involves heavy reliance on dual-use solutions. To accomplish these objectives, strong partnerships must be developed between U.S. Air Force end-users and acquisition professionals, and the private-sector portion of the National Security Innovation Base. The purpose of the TACFI pilot program is to catalyze those relationships and to bridge the capability gap between current SBIR/STTR efforts.