Conference Sponsor Profile: Air Force Dual Use S&T and COSSI

The Department of the Air Force will have an exhibit and representatives from two programs, the Dual Use Science and Technology Program (DUS&T) and the Commercial Operations & Support Savings Initiative (COSSI), at SSTI's annual conference. Each offers unique opportunities for technology-related businesses.

The goal of the Air Force DUS&T Program is to cost-share research projects with industry for the development of technologies that have military utility and sufficient levels of commercial potential. Successful projects occur when the service and the private sector identify and develop technologies that meet both defense and commercial needs. These projects are undertaken outside of the Federal Acquisition Regulations, utilizing instead, cooperative agreements thereby allaying some fears attributable to concern over property rights. Competition takes place on an annual basis. For more information, visit http://www.afrl.af.mil/dualuse

Through COSSI, the military extends the service life and reduces the costs of ownership of its systems by leveraging technologies developed commercially. Decreased costs are due to increasing component reliability and operating efficiencies and to a reduction in spare parts and maintenance costs. In Stage I, COSSI funds the non-recurring engineering, testing and qualification typically needed to adapt a commercial item to military needs. A prototype is developed and field tested. Applicants must include a firm or team which includes at least one for-profit firm. If Stage I is successful, the military customer can purchase production quantities of the prototype, thus moving to Stage II of the COSSI program. Visit http://www.acq.osd.mil/es/dut/cossi for more details.