News & Success Stories

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) – AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, announced the Innovative Capabilities Opening, or ICO, of Autonomy Prime Jan. 30, 2024.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AFRL) – AFWERX Autonomy Prime partner Xwing Inc. successfully completed an autonomous logistics mission in its Cessna 208B as dozens of Airmen watched from a ground control station at McClellan Airfield in Sacramento, California, Jan. 26, 2024. Xwing's autonomous flight technology allows its aircraft to taxi, take off, fly to a destination, avoid airborne and ground obstacles, and land, without any human input.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) -- AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force will host an exhibit featuring some of the latest developments from each of its divisions – AFVentures, Prime, Spark, and SpaceWERX - at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Warfare Symposium Feb. 12-14, 2024, at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center in Aurora, Colorado.

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- Air Force Global Strike Command is the first major command selected for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Specific Topic under AFWERX with four approved solicitations and two pending applications. AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF.

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah - The AFWERX Agility Prime program, launched by the Air Force in April 2020, is partnering with the electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL, commercial industry to develop a new class of air mobility systems.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) - With the ever-evolving needs of the modern warfighter, AFWERX stands at the forefront of the relentless pursuit of innovation and collaboration. New and inspiring ways to capture those interests must be met through various strategies, and AFWERX's latest approach is the Weapons Program Executive Office (PEO) Design Sprint and Challenge. Showcased in the name, the Weapons PEO is an incubator for weapons-based technologies and advancements.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) – As the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force, AFWERX finds creative ways to bring cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to the battlefield. One of those methods is the AFWERX Challenge, a fast and efficient way to solve a mission-critical problem and create positive impacts for the Department of Defense.

2023 was a historic year for AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force and a directorate within Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. AFWERX brings cutting edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. (U.S. Air Force video by Air Force Research Laboratory Public Affairs)

MORAINE, Ohio – AFWERX Spark and other Department of the Air Force innovators gathered Nov. 14-16 in Moraine, Ohio, to create a curriculum for teaching Airmen and Guardians who want to effectively pitch innovative ideas to high-ranking military officers and civilians.