Tomahawk Robotics Inc. is growing fast, and it just landed one of its biggest defense deals.
The Melbourne-based maker of robotics operating systems landed a $4.1 million contract with the U.S. Marine Corps, which will generate work at the company in 2021 and 2022. The award is for the Marine Corps’ Radio Agile Integrated Device program, meant to provide the military branch with a common way to control unmanned systems in the air and on the ground.
Tomahawk will equip the Marine Corps with technologies that give them universal robotic control over these systems, CEO Brad Truesdell said in a prepared statement.
Military contracts like this one are important because they contribute to the local economy in the form of jobs and subcontractor opportunities. Metro Orlando companies were awarded roughly $6 billion in federal contracts in fiscal 2020, while Brevard County firms won another $4.5 billion, according to federal contracting data.
Meanwhile, Tomahawk, founded in 2018, experiences rapid growth. Tomahawk did not share the company’s employee count, but spokeswoman Tracey Maslow said the company is tripling its headcount year-over-year. The company employed 20 people in July 2020. There are seven open positions listed on Tomahawk’s website, all high-wage jobs such as engineer, project manager, motion graphics designer and director of finance.
Likewise, the firm tripled its revenue for the last three years, Maslow said. Tomahawk’s customers primarily are in the defense, industrial and public safety sectors. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, interest in robotic and automated capabilities remained strong, Truesdell previously told OBJ.
“The pandemic has highlighted issues with the supply chain, the desire for remote capabilities. The software we are providing to our customers and we work on everyday is supportive of that larger macro trend.”
The Department of Defense's use of robotics and artificial intelligence has "intensified," National Center for Simulation Chief Operating Officer Neal Finkelstein told OBJ. That not only creates opportunities for companies like Tomahawk, but it creates demand for companies in Central Florida's $6 billion modeling, simulation and training industry to develop simulated 3-D environments for unmanned military systems, said Finkelstein, who served in the Department of Defense for 31 years.
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