AFWERX SBIR/STTR Program Strengthens Warfighters’ Knowledge Retention

DAYTON, Ohio — U.S. Air Force missions depend on Airmen’s ability to receive and retain skills as they advance in their career fields. Extensive training hours, equipment and funding have historically been vital to building confidence and qualifying warfighters before they perform live mission operations.

Traditional training methods face challenges that limit engagement, hands-on experience and the knowledge retention required to achieve optimal force readiness without extensive spending. Instructors also experience constraints because of location requirements, scheduling and asset availability. For specialized career fields, these delays can affect the Air Force’s ability to maintain mission readiness.

Limited access to aircraft and airspace for pilot training can restrict opportunities for pilot training, while damaged aircraft reduces fleet availability and disrupt operations supporting U.S. defense missions worldwide. For maintainers, diagnosing system faults and repairing complex aircraft requires technical proficiency, and errors can result in additional damage or extended maintenance timelines. Medical personnel and first responders also must develop and maintain critical skills to perform effectively in high-stress environments where mistakes can have operational consequences.

With support from AFWERX and the Department of the Air Force, Enduvo, a Peoria, Illinois-based company that develops immersive content creation software, is working to address these challenges by leveraging an AI-native no-code, collaborative virtual classroom.

Enduvo develops immersive training software used to support military training initiatives. The company’s platform enables trainers to develop immersive training content using no-code authoring environments. With this platform, users can develop interactive training scenarios for collaborative instruction that help warfighters retain information.

In 2019, Enduvo received an AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I award to evaluate and adapt its augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) content authoring platform. It was designed to help military teams train pilots, medical practitioners, and maintenance crews with the goal of reducing training costs.

In 2022, Enduvo was awarded AFWERX Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) contract to scale its immersive, no-code AR/VR authoring platform.

In 2023, the company received an AFWERX SBIR Phase III contract to be a core element of the U.S. Air Force’s Discovery Analysis and Reporting Platform (DARP)/ Member Operations Training Analysis and Reports (MOTAR) program of record. Air Force trainers gained the ability to build immersive content within their digital classroom and connect with the MOTAR ecosystem.

Later that year, Enduvo won a $10 million enterprise wide Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract from the U.S. Air Force for an immersive learning platform. The company is currently engaged in a second TACFI effort to deploy generative AI to the platform to decrease the time it takes instructors to create and modify training content.

This effort illustrates how AFWERX works with industry through the SBIR/STTR program to evaluate, mature and transition commercial technologies that address DAF mission needs. By incorporating an immersive training platform, the U.S. Air Force is refining the education and training process and supporting Airmen’s readiness.

*Disclaimer: References to non-federal entities do not constitute or imply Department of War or Air Force endorsement of any company or organization.