October, 2000 – RDA, Inc. selected as one of the 2000 Tibbetts Award recipients.
“RDA Inc. has proved outstanding contributions to the United States Navy Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) technology. ASW remains a national threat since the end of the Cold War, and in fact has become a more difficult problem due to multiple areas of potential hostile activity, the sale of more capable submarines to third world countries by the former Soviet Union and others and the declining DoD budget needed to fund technology advances. RDA Inc. has demonstrated a unique capability to identify and isolate the critical needs of the Navy, create innovative solutions, and design practical systems to exploit new technology. RDA has efficiently taken theoretical concepts through prototyping and test, and has produced working systems for significantly less cost than normal. By reducing the R&D time at the front end of systems acquisitions and demonstrating critical capabilities before commitment of funds to full-scale development, RDA has shown that a small business can have a significant impact on the way the Navy pursues system development and acquisition. Through licensing and co-operative agreements with other organizations, RDA is now expanding the development and use of its technology for the US Navy. RDA has worked with local Pennsylvanian and out-of-state academic institutions at the theoretical and conceptual phase, and with DoD industrial organizations at the transition phase for full-scale fleet implementation. In addition to significant achievements in ASW technology, RDA’s efforts will help keep a viable workforce to support the Navy’s needs. From the perspective of the total revenue generated as a result of only one of RDA’s SBIR projects, an estimated $33 million could be realized over the next three years. Three RDA projects were endorsed by the Navy’s Executive Office (PEO-A) for transition to the NAVAIR ASW fleet – a solid indication of RDA’s commitment to customers.“ (US SBA, 2000)
U.S. Small Business Administration. (2000, October 3). Business Innovation Research Awardee Profiles, Fifth Annual Tibbetts Awards. Page 54.
“RDA Inc. has proved outstanding contributions to the United States Navy Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) technology. ASW remains a national threat since the end of the Cold War, and in fact has become a more difficult problem due to multiple areas of potential hostile activity, the sale of more capable submarines to third world countries by the former Soviet Union and others and the declining DoD budget needed to fund technology advances. RDA Inc. has demonstrated a unique capability to identify and isolate the critical needs of the Navy, create innovative solutions, and design practical systems to exploit new technology. RDA has efficiently taken theoretical concepts through prototyping and test, and has produced working systems for significantly less cost than normal. By reducing the R&D time at the front end of systems acquisitions and demonstrating critical capabilities before commitment of funds to full-scale development, RDA has shown that a small business can have a significant impact on the way the Navy pursues system development and acquisition. Through licensing and co-operative agreements with other organizations, RDA is now expanding the development and use of its technology for the US Navy. RDA has worked with local Pennsylvanian and out-of-state academic institutions at the theoretical and conceptual phase, and with DoD industrial organizations at the transition phase for full-scale fleet implementation. In addition to significant achievements in ASW technology, RDA’s efforts will help keep a viable workforce to support the Navy’s needs. From the perspective of the total revenue generated as a result of only one of RDA’s SBIR projects, an estimated $33 million could be realized over the next three years. Three RDA projects were endorsed by the Navy’s Executive Office (PEO-A) for transition to the NAVAIR ASW fleet – a solid indication of RDA’s commitment to customers.“ (US SBA, 2000)
U.S. Small Business Administration. (2000, October 3). Business Innovation Research Awardee Profiles, Fifth Annual Tibbetts Awards. Page 54.