Palantir bags $178 million US Army TITAN deep sensing contract

Palantir USG has won the US Army Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) ground system programme. The service announced the winner of the US$178 million deal on 6 March, under which Denver-based Palantir will build 10 TITAN ground stations. 

The programme will support Army modernisation efforts by using AI and machine learning (ML) to enhance automation of target recognition and geolocation. Emerging technologies will also be used to integrate data from multiple sensors to reduce sensor-to-shooter timelines.

The contract award came after a three-year design and prototyping phase which compared Palantir’s system against one developed by RTX, previously known as Raytheon. Palantir’s subcontractor team on the effort has included Northrop Grumman, Anduril Industries, L3Harris, Pacific Defense and Sierra Nevada Corporation. 

The programme’s focus on integrating feedback through regular demonstrations, or soldier touchpoints, has played a crucial role in ensuring that the company’s winning system incorporated the most essential capabilities required in the field, the company told C4ISRNET. Soldier input of this nature will persist over the next two years as Palantir will continue to refine its TITAN prototype.

Alongside the 10 ground stations, Palantir will also construct five basic variants to be installed on the Army’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. Although these will not feature a direct space downlink, they will still have access to data from space sensors.

Northrop Grumman, for its part, will undertake the integration, testing and deployment of TITAN systems to the US Army, furnishing actionable targeting information to enhance mission command and enable long-range precision fires.

TITAN has incorporated space, high-altitude, aerial and terrestrial sensors to deliver actionable targeting data, enhancing mission command capabilities. It was set out to empower the Army to fuse, correlate and integrate intelligence from a wide array of sensors, offering operational forces a comprehensive situational awareness.