Prometheus and Zignal Won Air Force Security Contract

The project will integrate physical security hardware with open source intelligence to enhance force protection.

Updated on Sept. 28, 2026 in Cybersecurity

Bold flat-color editorial illustration depicting a stylized metallic security chip embedded in steel, representing institutional defense technology integration. — Prometheus Security Group Global and Zignal Labs have been awarded a $74,292 Air Force research contract to integrate physical hardware security with digital intelligence. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Prometheus Security Group Global and Zignal Labs have secured a $74,292 AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract. The research award aims to combine physical security systems with open source intelligence to provide early warning capabilities for the Department of the Air Force.

Why it matters

This research project seeks to extend force protection beyond traditional physical perimeters by layering digital intelligence onto hardware-rooted security events. It reflects an ongoing effort by the Department of the Air Force to integrate commercial dual-use technologies into defense operations.

The system utilizes hardware-rooted device authentication to verify physical security triggers against open source intelligence. This pilot study evaluates if fusing portable sensors with digital signals can outperform existing, isolated perimeter security solutions.

The players

AFWERX

The innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force that manages SBIR programs to source dual-use technology from the private sector.

Prometheus Security Group Global

An Austin-based security firm specializing in portable physical security systems.

Zignal Labs

A San Francisco-based intelligence company that uses software to analyze open source data streams for situational awareness.

The details

The project integrates portable physical security hardware with open source intelligence, which refers to data collected from publicly available digital sources. By using hardware-rooted device authentication—a security process where a cryptographic key is embedded directly into the physical chip of a device—the system verifies that security events are genuine. This approach aims to provide operational context to physical alarms, allowing security forces to distinguish between localized incidents and broader, emerging threats.

2018: The Department of the Air Force began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program.
Fiscal year 2025: AFWERX awarded over 1,000 contracts worth $1.37 billion.
September 28, 2026: Prometheus Security Group Global and Zignal Labs received the contract award.

The Tech Race

This award marks a continuation of the Department of the Air Force's Open Topic SBIR/STTR program designed to foster dual-use technology development. It sits within a wider defense strategy to integrate agile commercial software, like open source intelligence, into hardened physical infrastructure.

This research is in an early Phase I stage, meaning no commercial or military-wide deployment is available at this time. The results from this pilot will determine whether this fused security capability moves toward Phase III transition, which in fiscal year 2025 represented $8.1 billion in spending.

The takeaway

The success of this pilot will depend on whether the integrated system can provide actionable warnings faster than current perimeter defenses. Observers should track future AFWERX Phase III transition reports to see if this project scales beyond the initial research contract.