On November 7, 2019, the US Air Force (USAF) held its first ever Hypersonics Pitch Day hosted by the Armament Directorate and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Selected small businesses had a mere 5 minutes to present their tech ideas to Air Force experts followed by 5 minutes for questions with an opportunity for a contract valued at $750,000 to $1,000,000.
“We’re really trying to find those innovative start-ups,” said Major Madeleine Jensen (Armament Directorate; Q Branch, Emerging Technologies), who called the Pitch Day approach “the express check-out line” of military contracting.
Seven of the nine companies invited to the inaugural event earned contracts: Ursa Major Technologies, UES, Spectral Energies, Powdermet, GoHypersonic, Advanced Silicon Group, and Fourth State Communications LLC.
