The US Department of the Air Force started AFWERX in 2017 to serve as an innovation engine in cooperation with the Air Force Research Laboratory. The organization, which encompasses the Ventures, Spark, Prime, and SpaceWERX programs, has awarded more than 10,000 contracts worth $7.2 billion since 2019. In the 2024 fiscal year alone, Air Force Materiel Command awarded 260 Phase III transition contracts totaling $1 billion in value.
According to Colonel William “Laz” Wilkinson, the assistant deputy director of AFWERX and Austin Hub Site lead, Ventures is an investment program geared toward commercial innovators and private capital investment, and Spark empowers airmen and US Space Force guardians by connecting them to commercial innovators using virtual collaboration, immersive training, and networking opportunities. The Prime program is an industry accelerator that expands technology transition pathways in emerging dual-use markets by leveraging government resources. And SpaceWERX is the innovation arm for the US Space Force.
“It’s great to be able to help an airman get an idea out, funded, and brought to fruition,” says Wilkinson, who adds that AFWERX can also help individuals apply for patents on their inventions. “We also partner with small businesses that have great ideas.”
“When you’re working in Alaska, certain challenges arise when it comes to weather and getting aircraft off the ground,” explains Tech Sergeant Dustin Baker, who is the lead for Eielson projects. “As a fighter wing dealing with direct conflicts overseas, we need to be ready at all times.”
When temperatures sink below -20°F, pneumatic refueling lines freeze. By retrofitting an alcohol dryer container to remove moisture from the lines, Eielson crews could continue refueling jets.
“A couple years ago, during ‘Icemageddon,’ we had a flight line covered in a couple inches of ice,” Baker adds. “Our smart-brained people came together and within 48 hours developed a large ice-breaking tool called FIBA (flightline ice-breaking apparatus)—which is basically a large plow—so that we were able to clear the runway.”
Recently, the base created heated phone scanners and phone cases to protect its electronic Zebra barcode scanners from extreme cold.
“Bluetooth capabilities and battery life tend to fail at these scanners, which are used to scan gas cards for government vehicles, so we created a little temperature-controlled heater for these devices as well as our phone cases,” says Baker. “Now when individuals are out in the elements, they can use them at lower temperatures.”
Recent projects include augmented reality for Tactical Combat Casualty Care training in partnership with GigXR, which provides holographic healthcare training. “GigXR developed scenarios using augmented reality for casualty care, which enables us to train individuals at a lower cost and more rapid pace in remote areas as long as we have service,” says Baker. “Now we don’t need to send people to different locations to get this training.”
To help with US Department of Defense (DOD) explosives training, Eielson innovators also devised an inexpensive design for training canisters.
“You can only explode so many things before you need money to purchase more items,” explains Baker. “We had a limited supply of containers but were able to provide a 3D printer with metal filament to make more canisters in different designs to help with shape charges for training purposes. It works for all types of devices.”
Innovations are aborning at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) as well. According to Staff Sergeant Taylor Davis, the 673rd Security Forces Squadron recently progressed prototypes to employment phases from two AFWERX projects under contract: Picogrid and Ravensafe. The squadron is working to close on another, the InVeris Augmented Reality Weapons Trainer.
Picogrid leverages cutting-edge surveillance systems, data analytics, and communication networks to provide a dynamic response capability to evolving security threats.
“The integration of a prototype highly attributable camera system into the Picogrid framework aims to revolutionize situational awareness and threat assessment,” Davis explains. “This advanced camera technology features real-time video analytics and automated tracking of potential security breaches, significantly increasing the ability of security forces to monitor and respond effectively to incidents within the base environment.”
Ravensafe is a mobile energy storage alternative to fuel-driven generators for providing instant power. The hybrid lithium-ion battery can be recharged by grid power, solar, or generator.
“The implementation of this mobile energy storage system under Ravensafe will provide security forces with a reliable and efficient power source that ensures continuous operation of critical base defense systems in various scenarios,” says Davis. “This energy solution is designed to be easily transportable, allowing for quick setup in diverse locations and support for extended missions.”
“There are open topics and specific topics; on open topics, individuals have ideas and bring them to us,” says Wilkinson. “Some of these ideas match our needs perfectly, some need a few modifications, and others are a good place to start.”
Specific topics that AFWERX requests might include, say, an automated drone to deliver food to troops. Companies compete for these contracts, showcasing products and ideas that can meet this need. During these events, AFWERX personnel meet with businesses and individuals to connect them with education and resources on AFWERX programs.
Wilkinson says most small businesses have a limited understanding of how to get through the military’s contracting function, so AFWERX also helps them navigate that path.
Baker notes that most of Eielson’s innovative ideas come from military individuals dealing with day-to-day issues. “However, we do have civilian companies that reach out to ask if a technology or project is something the military needs,” he says. “I first started getting requests from companies when I changed my LinkedIn profile title to Director of Innovation. I get a lot of people contacting me with a wide variety of ideas.”
Baker is also part of the Alaska Defense Board panel that includes UAF members and other innovative individuals, and he works with the National Security Innovation Network, a DOD program, to find new ideas.
According to Davis, JBER has innovative teams across the installation from the level of wing to squadron, which allows anyone in any position to promote process improvements, advanced technology, or equipment hacks to more efficiently and effectively accomplish the Air Force mission. He serves as a liaison between innovators, small businesses, and AFWERX to facilitate the administrative needs of submitting projects for development or implementation.
“Projects can be military-driven or proposed through civilian vendors competing for contract awards,” he says. “On the civilian side, I coordinate with third-party AFWERX partners who network with cutting-edge industries and up-and-coming small businesses to cater submissions to our unit’s needs and mission set.”
“One project, a 3D-printed cover designed to prevent kick damage when maintenance was being performed, took all of an hour to design and four hours to print,” says Baker. “A warehouse redesign to improve productivity and workflow that we started two years ago is ongoing; we’ve just gotten to the point where we are creating work areas appropriate to maximize efforts.”
Depending on the project, the Air Force Research Lab may provide funding for contracts through AFWERX (when contracts are with civilian companies), and funding may also come from Congress, with a specific portion of Air Force funding earmarked for innovation.
“If an idea is pitched from in-unit or within the military community, it’s a matter of if the product is readily available and if funds can be allocated for purchase,” says Davis. “If it is a pitch from civilian vendors through AFWERX, these are innovative capsules without tangible contents. Once a product is approved and awarded funding to initiate production, timelines vary from a projected twelve to twenty-four months before a prototype is ready for integration.”
Davis notes that his security squadron is empowered to act on innovations. “As a unit, we can fund these opportunities if budget allocation can be situated,” he says. “If the dollar amount is greater than our means, I work to push these projects to the wing or MAJCOM [Major Command] levels for approval and innovations funding.”
AFWERX funds come from various sources, including contract opportunities such as the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, the AFWERX Challenge, and the Tactical Funding Increase and Strategic Funding Increase programs. These funds support small businesses and startups in developing innovative technologies for the Air Force and the DOD.
AFWERX
A total of fifty-six companies showcased bladder relief solutions: some entirely new systems, some adaptors for commercially available products. The sleek Advanced Inflight Relief Universal System, with a detachable pump, has now been approved for Air Force use.
The Rapid Yeti, an idea that came from a frontline service member in logistics, was created with the goal of helping unload cargo faster and safer, which can be challenging in areas that lack infrastructure, such as remote areas in Alaska. The airman worked through JBER’s Arctic Spark, which reached out to the National Security Innovation Network to help take the project from idea to reality.
“Other programs that encourage innovation include the Fellowship Program, which enables Air Force members doing other jobs who have expressed an interest in innovation to be assigned to certain projects for six months to a year to bring in outside thinking where it had not been before,” says Wilkinson.
Furthermore, he adds, “The Refinery is an innovation accelerator where an airman can come up with an idea to make things safer or life better, and we’ll help them prepare their ideas to show to senior leadership.” In the Refinery program, innovators and project teams are competitively selected to participate in a two-, four-, or six-week cohort (based on team needs) to focus on development and refinement of their grassroots project prototypes. Refinery participants are also provided with entrepreneurial knowledge, connections to relevant stakeholders, and resources within the DOD ecosystem.
One success from this program is an airman-conceived tool that has enabled the Air Force to keep aircraft in the flight rotation. Without it, planes had to be taken out of rotation for one to two sorties; by finding a way to 3D print the $600 item, the Air Force has saved an estimated 400 hours of lost flying time each year.
According to Wilkinson, AFWERX encourages inventors and entrepreneurs to continue to share their innovations with the military and to take advantage of programs available to bring their ideas to fruition.
“We hope businesses continue to reach out to us because there are a lot of amazing ideas that they can bring to the table,” he says. “Somewhere out there, someone has a game-changer, and we’d love to see it.”