Compass Technology Group is advancing aircraft radar-cover inspection technology through a federal Small Business Innovation Research award worth approximately $2 million.
The Alpharetta company’s Sensor-Fused Radome Diagnostic System received a $1,999,999 Phase II award, according to the federal SBIR database. The record identifies 2026 as the award year and lists a performance period from Oct. 22, 2025, through Oct. 29, 2027.
Connected Alpharetta, the city’s economic development website, highlighted the award Oct. 22.
The work builds on technology for evaluating radomes, the protective enclosures that shield aircraft radar equipment while allowing signals to pass through. Damage or moisture can interfere with their performance.
Compass has developed methods that combine sensor measurements with a digital model of a radome to calculate how it affects radar signals. The latest award supports improvements to the underlying software, robotic sensor attachments and integration of measurement tools, according to the federal record.
Earlier testing on F-15 radomes at Robins Air Force Base produced results comparable to established inspection methods, AFWERX reported in July. Air Force officials are evaluating whether the technology can reduce maintenance costs and serve additional aircraft.
AFWERX also described a $10 million Phase III contract awarded in 2024 for radome performance evaluation and tuning using machine learning.
The agency’s account identifies plans to broaden testing and deployment beyond Robins, including locations at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, Hill Air Force Base in Utah, Hurlburt Field in Florida and a Navy installation in San Diego. Those plans concern the broader development program.
Engineers Becky Schultz and Kate Maloney founded Compass in 2011, according to the company’s history. The business initially operated from Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center in downtown Atlanta with SBIR support.
By 2022, Compass had grown beyond 30 employees and expanded its facility to 12,000 square feet. The company develops radio frequency measurement equipment and software for aerospace, manufacturing, research and other applications.
Schultz, the company’s CEO, has credited Georgia Tech with helping the business manage its growth.
“Georgia Tech is the go-to resource for our company,” she said in a Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership profile. The profile describes assistance with leadership training, safety, cybersecurity and manufacturing quality requirements.
Connected Alpharetta said Compass, Movius Interactive Corporation, Annoviant Inc. and Bravo17 LLC have collectively received $26.4 million in SBIR awards since 2020.
