Kaye Howard
Over the years, there are government contracts awarded by AFWERX. AFWERX has issued contract awards to enable startups and growing enterprises to expand their reach and offerings for the public and private sectors. Below are the top government contracts won by AFWERX and awarded to various enterprises.
AFWERX is a program operated by the US Air Force (USAF) and the Department of Defense (DoD) that funds small businesses’ initiatives extending to academia, industry, investment, and international partnerships.
Top government contracts awarded by AFWERX
AFWERX’s Midnight-Based Advanced Vertical Lift Contract Awarded to Archer Aviation, $110 Million
- Year: 2023
- Contract awardee: Archer Aviation Inc.
- Contract type: Firm-fixed-price, IDIQ
- Contract duration: 5 years
Archer Aviation Inc. hit a significant milestone on July 27, 2023, as it landed the firm-fix-price IDIQ Midnight-based Vertical Lift Contract from AFWERX.
With a contract value of $110 million, the California-based contract awardee was tasked to repeatedly implement experiments on military installations for government-owned and operated flights. Additionally, the contract entails the execution and experimentation of flight operations with vital missions and mission elements and corroboration of government use cases, mission concepts, and cost/benefit analyses of the Midnight aircraft.
Archer Aviation was granted a minimum contract amount of $1.3 million and is expected to complete the contract by July 31, 2028. This contract is a follow-up to previously awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I and II efforts.
About Archer Aviation
Archer Aviation Inc. is a publicly traded company specializing in building aircraft and providing aircraft support and various aviation services to government and defense customers. Based in San Jose, California, the company’s main goal is to “unlock the skies” and manufacture transportation systems that enable people to travel via air more safely and efficiently. Archer Aviation is most notable for developing electronic vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
AFWERX Awarded Sparta Science a Contract to Develop a Tool to Improve the Efficiency of Rehabilitative Care Teams
- Year: 2023
- Contract awardee: Sparta Science
- Contract type: Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR)
On January 25, 2023, AFWERX awarded Sparta Science a Small Business Technology Transfer Research Phase I contract from the US- Air Force to work on a scalable support tool that improves the efficiency of rehabilitative care and performance optimization teams.
Under the agreement, the movement health company will combine its data with Northeastern University’s Synergetic Media Learning (Smile) Lab’s mobile device-based markerless motion capture machine vision data in advanced machine learning (ML) models to derive more comprehensive input into the rehabilitation decision process.
This AFWERX contract award propels Sparta Science to innovate human performance capabilities by expanding productivity, reach, scalability, and effectiveness. Added to that, Sparta Science’s work will help in exploring opportunities that improve warfighter readiness and bolster the delivery of effective movement health guidance to the USAF.
About Sparta Science
Sparta Science is a Movement Health Intelligence company aimed at applying modern data science techniques to optimize organizations’ processes in assessing, analyzing, understanding, and improving health and well-being.
Other than movement health intelligence and applied data science, Sparta Science’s offerings and specialties extend to software development, biomechanics, injury prevention, machine learning, sports science, diagnostic technology, prediction modeling, and many more.
AFWERX Awarded SimX New Contract to Expand VALOR Research and Development Program, $1.7 Million
- Year: 2023
- Contract awardee: SimX Inc.
February 2023 marked a significant development in SimX’s Virtual Advancement of Learning and Operational Readiness (VALOR) research and development program as AFWERX awarded the company a new contract to further expand this effort. SimX previously won four contracts from the US Air Force to start and expand VALOR in 2021.
Under the new contract worth $1.7 million, SimX will work on improving the medical capability and versatility of its Virtual Reality (VR) training, particularly for prehospital combat casualty care provided by the special operations medical staff of the Air Force.
In addition, SimX will make its VR simulation technology more reliable and user-friendly for various deployment technologies, such as automated self-serve familiarization and simplified training orchestration.
About SimX
SimX streamlines medical simulation training with cutting-edge virtual and augmented reality to improve the learning experiences of clinicians and medical professionals.
Through SimX’s advanced VR methods, physicians, nurses, and other allied health professionals can learn and train effectively while replacing expensive mannequins with incredibly flexible simulated patients supported by a robust physiology engine.
AFWERX Awarded VentureScope SBIR Contract to Establish Innovation Accelerator Program
- Year: 2022
- Contract awardee: VentureScope LLC
- Contract type: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
On December 13, 2022, VentureScope secured a Small Business Innovation Research program contract to establish The Refinery, a startup incubator development program for the US Air Force.
Under the contract, VentureScope actively contributed to the development of innovators within the Air Force to become more effective problem solvers. Added to that, the contract propels the advancement of new technologies useful for the military and other functions of the Department of Defense.
About VentureScope
VentureScope is a Virginia-based IT consulting and venture investment firm with expertise in product development, strategic partnerships, bridging industries, build-buy-partner decisions, business model refinement, growth analysis, and problem deconstruction and framing.
Since 2007, VentureScope’s teams leveraged decades of experience to advise startups, investors, entrepreneurs, and multinational organizations and help them increase their growth, investment, and capital.
AFWERX Granted Illumination Works Contract to Automate Data Rights Understanding
- Year: 2022
- Contract awardee: Illumination Works
- Contract type: Small Business Innovation Research
On July 11, 2022, Illumination Works was tapped by AFWERX to offer its Odin solution via an SBIR Direct to Phase II agreement. Odin is an enabling technology designed to enhance the productivity of the US Air Force’s personnel by data rights verification and automating technical data delivery.
Illumination Work’s provision of Odin to the US Air Force will contribute to key digital engineering capabilities aligned with the agency’s science and technology strategies. In addition, the application will assist in the rapid and effective understanding of ML-driven technical data, automation of textual data and connections, and productivity of non-engineers who review technical and text documents manually.
About Illumination Works
Illumination Works is a leading technology provider of user-centric digital transformation strategies, impactful business solutions to clients, and a broad range of big data information frameworks laser-focused on end-user perspective.
About AFWERX
The program’s name is an amalgamation of the abbreviation for “Air Force” and “WERX,” which is shorthand for “work project.” Put together, AFWERX represents the USAF’s efforts to foster a culture of innovation within the service, fund ground-breaking research and development programs, and pair startups with venture capital investors to usher in new and fresh industry ideas and become leading government contractors.
