February 27, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Steve Trimble
The U.S. Air Force has adopted a three-phase strategy to select small, innovative companies outside the traditional defense industry to perform advanced development work and to tap Silicon Valley-style venture capital firms to help taxpayers finance the new technology.
A new process could help rationalize the one-year-old Air Force effort to attract high-tech startups with dozens of Air Force Pitch Day events. These conferences have led to hundreds of small contract awards but no obvious path to guide the aspiring defense contractors further into the byzantine military acquisition process.
For the private startups and venture capitalists involved, the Air Force Ventures initiative is designed to offer a new route to the commercial market for potentially game-changing technologies that could benefit from a risk-tolerant government customer providing funding and early support.
“We don't really think of ourselves as a [stand-alone] market, but we purchase things in quantities that [are] meaningful enough that we can bridge companies until they reach a level for commercial success,” says Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics. “That's one reason that [venture capitalists] are interested in this.”
The Air Force Ventures process starts with the Pitch Day events, during which the Air Force can place initial “bets” worth up to about $50,000 each in Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants on promising, potentially game-changing ideas, says Roper, speaking to about 1,000 Air Force acquisition officials during a Feb. 14 webinar.
As the companies transition toward Phase II SBIR awards, the Air Force plans to grant about 300 contracts worth up to $1 million each—with a program office agreeing to fund about one-third of the costs. The funding match is meant to link the SBIR award to a program office, creating a path for the technology to potentially transition beyond the laboratory stage and into a program of record.
The third and final step in the Air Force Ventures concept whittles the pool of awards to about 50 recipients. The amount of the award is potentially “unlimited,” Roper says, but is generally regarded as at least $10 million.
The first of the “big bets” in Phase III are now under evaluation, Roper says. The contract awards could be announced at South by Southwest, a week-long technology conference and entertainment festival scheduled for March 13-22 in Austin, Texas.
The initiative explicitly seeks to help the Air Force break from traditional defense contractors. As the Air Force attempts to field leap-ahead capabilities within the next decade for the Advanced Battle Management System and Next-Generation Air Dominance, leveraging the innovative ideas and technology flowing into the commercial market is seen as critical.
“[R&D] in this country is 80% commercial,” Roper explains. “So in the 21st century, the [defense] industrial base should be dual-use. And so we've got to crack the code on how to have public and private funding work seamlessly inside an Air Force program.”
But there are significant challenges as the Air Force tries to leverage commercial-sector technology investments: Small companies often need to find a market quickly to generate revenue and cash flow, whereas government program offices tend to make decisions slowly—and inconsistently.
“In many cases, their commercialization [strategy] is devalued [by investors] if they have government funds,” Roper adds.
The Air Force's program managers also face a learning curve.
“If we're making 1,000 small bets a year, the reason we're making 1,000 is that we know most of them aren't going to pan out. So we can't manage the companies the way we would a traditional program,” Roper says. “But we can manage them as a portfolio—the same way that a private investor or a venture capitalist would.”
To prepare, the Air Force is sending acquisition officials back to school. Next year, a cadre of program managers will be enrolled in a six-month course at Stanford University, which will teach the Air Force to manage technology investments like a venture capitalist, Roper says. The next step is to expand educational opportunities within the Air Force. A new acquisition curriculum, modeled on operational training centers such as the Fighter Weapons School, will be created, Roper says.
April 2, 2024 | International, Naval
Most new shipbuilding programs are running one to three years behind schedule, including the Columbia and Virginia subs and the Constellation frigate.
May 5, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Lee Hudson The Pentagon intends to request additional stimulus funding from Congress to support the defense industrial base in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Defense Secretary Mark Esper says. The funding would go to small suppliers that have been hit hard by the spread of the novel coronavirus, Esper said May 4 during a Brookings Institution event. In recent weeks, Congress has passed about $3 trillion in emergency funding bills related to COVID-19. The Senate is in session this week, but the House has postponed votes. It is unknown when the next stimulus package will wrap up. “We anticipate the likely need for additional monies ... because we see again greater demand with regard to medical supplies and equipment,” Esper said. But House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said the Pentagon should not receive stimulus funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act because the public health sector needs it more. Last week, Pentagon acquisition executive Ellen Lord said the Pentagon may have wiggle room to use some of its own operations and maintenance funding to pay for COVID-19-related efforts. Lord cautioned that the Pentagon may not have the fiscal flexibility to pay for new demands on the agency to battle COVID-19. “I will say that we continue to look at gaps in funding we have for specific issues. We continue to work with [the Office of Management and Budget] on that, and we will continue to talk to Congress about what we assess as our needs to really carry out our missions,” Lord said. The Defense Department (DOD) wants to continue supporting the defense industry by issuing progress payments to help with cash flow, Esper said. “DOD is not an island. We really rely heavily on the private sector, and so many of our private sector workforce has been affected by COVID-19,” Esper said. Some defense contractor personnel are infected with the virus, while others are working in states with shutdown orders and management does not want them coming into work because of tight quarters, he said. Separately, Esper is concerned the nation's additional debt incurred due to COVID-19 may result in smaller defense budgets during a critical time when China and Russia are strategic competitors of the U.S. The U.S. must recapitalize the nuclear triad and invest in hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, space capabilities and directed energy, Esper said. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/dod-seeking-more-covid-19-stimulus-funding-esper-says
April 20, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
At Skies, we've heard from a number of North American aviation product, support and services businesses that are doing their best to keep our industry moving during this global pandemic. To ensure that operators can still access the support they need, here is a non-exhaustive list of companies who are still open for business in some capacity. This list will be updated regularly. If you would like your company to be added to the list, please email news@skiesmag.com. Aero Aviation Ltd. Airborne Engines Ltd. Airbus Helicopters Canada Air Comm Corporation Air Georgian AirSuite Inc. AJW Technique Alpine Aerotech Altitude Aerospace Inc. Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp. Apex Industries Inc. ARTEX Atlantic Avionics Aurora Jet Partners Avialta Helicopter Maintenance Ltd. Avianor Inc. Aviation Business Support Inc. Aviation Ground Fueling Technologies Avicor Aviation International Avmax Avstar Media AvroTecknik Aviation B.C. Aviation Council Bella Coola Air Ltd. Boeing Distribution Inc. Bridger Aerospace Group, LLC Brotech Precision CNC Inc. Cadorath Calm Air International Canadian Airports Council Canadian Air Parts, Ltd. Canadian Air Transport Security Authority Canadian Business Aviation Association Canadian Council for Aviation & Aerospace CanRep Inc. CanWest Aerospace Inc. CarteNav Solutions (Mission systems) Cascade Aerospace Custom Helicopters DART Aerospace De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. (London, Ont.) Eagle Copters EFC Developments Elisen & Associés Inc. Essential Turbines, Inc. EuroTec Canada Exchange Petroleum Execaire Executive Flight Centre Fast Air – Air Charter Services Fast Air Jet Centre (FBO) FDC Aero Composites Field Aviation (Calgary and Toronto) Firkus Aircraft Inc. Flight Data Systems Flightdeck Solutions Flightdocs FlightPath International FlightSafety Canada FlightSafety International Flying Colours Corp. FlyRite Accessory Overhauls Inc. Freedom Aero Service Inc. FreeFlight Systems Global Airparts Inc. Helicopter Accessory Service South, LLC. Helicopter Accessory Service, Inc. Heli-Lynx Helicopters Heli-One Heliproducts Industries Helitowcart Helitrades Heliwelders Canada Ltd. HM Aero Aviation Consulting Hopkinson Aircraft Sales ICARUS Aero, Inc. Image Air IMP Aerospace Innotech Aviation JITbase KADEX Aero Supply Ltd. Keewatin Air (Aircraft maintenance and hangarage) KF Aerospace Latitude Technologies Lee Aerospace Levaero Aviation Longview Aviation Capital Marshall Aerospace Canada Inc. Maxcraft Avionics Ltd. Meridian Helicopters LLC Mid-Canada Mod Center Moncton Flight College Morningstar Air Express National Airlines Council of Canada National Helicopters Inc. Nav Canada Northwest Helicopters NovaJet Aviation Group Pacific Coastal Airlines (Emergency charter services and reduced WestJet Link flights) PAL Aerospace PAL Airlines PAL Aviation Services (Full-service FBO) Passport Helico (Commercial 702/703 and AMO) Perimeter Aviation Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. Precision Aero Components Premier Aviation Québec Inc. Priority 1 Air Rescue Professional Aircraft Accessories Professional Aircraft Associates Propair Inc. PropWorks Propeller Systems QualaTech Aero Consulting Ltd. Rocky Mountain Aircraft Rotorcorp, LLC Rotor Services Ltd. Sander Geophysics Limited (Air cargo) Sealand Aviation Ltd. Sealand Aerospace Ltd. Sealand Flight SEI Industries Select Helicopter Services Ltd. Signature Flight Support – Edmonton Skyservice Business Aviation SKYTRAC Systems Springer Aerospace StandardAero Summit Aviation Sunwest Aviation Szabo Aviation International TEAAM Aeromedical Technisonic Industries Ltd. Tempest Aviation Thunder Airlines Tradewind International, LLC Transwest Helicopters Ltd. TSL Aerospace Technologies Ltd. Turbolyft Aerospace United Aero Group Upper Valley Aviation Ltd. Vanguard Air Care VIH Aerospace Viking Air Ltd. Vmo Solutions Voyageur Aviation Corp. Wasaya Airways Westcan Aircraft Sales & Salvage Ltd. Western Aircraft Western Propeller Westholme Graphics, Inc. Wilderness Helicopters WinAir We're all in this together! https://www.skiesmag.com/news/canadian-aviation-product-support-services-businesses-that-are-remaining-open-during-the-covid-19-crisis/