AFNWC hosts second Pitch Day for small technology businesses Published Oct. 5, 2022 By Maj. Jeffrey Aland, Chief Scientist Directorate Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center held its second annual, invitation-only Pitch Day Aug. 24 to explore proposals from small businesses across the United States. It was the Air Force’s main event in the DoD 22.2 Small Business Innovation Research solicitation and provided small businesses an opportunity to solve some of AFNWC’s most vital technical needs. This year’s virtual Pitch Day was hosted at Louisiana Tech University in Shreveport by STRIKEWERX, the Air Force Global Strike Command innovation hub. The event focused on maturing technologies needed to modernize the land and air legs of the nuclear triad, a top priority for the Air Force. “The nuclear triad is the most important part of our nation’s defense, and this Pitch Day is an important enabler instilling innovation into the nuclear enterprise,” said Maj. Gen. John Newberry, AFNWC commander and Air Force program executive officer for strategic systems, in his welcoming comments to the participants. “Competition this year was fierce for the direct-to-phase II SBIR awards,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Niday, AFNWC chief scientist. “When all the dust settled, AFNWC awarded 20 contracts, worth a total of thirty million dollars.” “The Pitch Day was a huge success and showcased AFNWC’s commitment to small business innovation,” Niday said. “Our amazing team consisted of over 50 government experts from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Global Strike Command, and almost every directorate in AFNWC. We also had generous support from our partners at STRIKEWERX, AFWERX and Louisiana Tech University–we couldn’t have done it without them all.” Please visit www.afnwc.af.mil/Innovation/ for more information on AFNWC and its innovation efforts. Visit https://afwerx.com/afventures-resources/ for more information on the Air Force SBIR/STTR process.