Terma awarded $44M contract to equip F-16s with 3D audio

Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force has awarded Terma North America Inc. a $44.3 million contract to equip F-16 aircraft with a 3D audio system.

The deal, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, will equip systems on the F-16 C and D with the system under an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. The contract includes engineering, integration, production and support services, as well as future repairs.

The 3D system helps enhance sound "through a more natural and intuitive auditory interface" from different directions, according to the company.

"Spatially separated sound is what every person perceives, when not wearing a headset -- so we should call it 'natural sound,'" Terma says of the system. "We actually do detect the direction of a natural sound and use the direction when relevant. Natural sound can be reproduced through a stereo headset when processing is applied to the sound."

"The Terma solution is the only available end-to-end solution, which optimizes every aspect of spatial separation, and therefore provides the best performance available."

Terma has already been obligated $2.65 million in fiscal 2016 equipment funds from the Air Force Reserve Command and fiscal 2017 equipment funds of $5.7 million from the Air National Guard. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hill Air Force Base in Utah is the contracting activity.

Terma expects to complete the work by January 2024 at its Terma Aktieselskab facilities in Lystrup, Denmark.