The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) designed a project plan to assist its Biological Combat Assessment System (BCAS) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) program, including its Combat Assessment Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (CA-UAV), a major component of the overall system.

ARA was hired to support the project in its main objective, which includes the following:

• Design, develop and demonstrate a system with the capability to locate, identify, and safely return bacteria, viruses and toxins released during WMD counterforce strikes for post-mission analysis and exploitation.