xTech|Disrupt Awards $4.5M to Advance Power and Air Defense Technologies at AUSA 2026
By Eleanor Kent, Army FUZE
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army awarded $4.5 million through two xTech|Disrupt competitions at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition\, advancing commercial technologies aimed at two pressing operational challenges: sustaining power-dependent formations in contested environments and defeating increasingly affordable aerial threats without exhausting defensive resources.
The awards reflect a broader shift in how the Army is engaging industry to address capability gaps, emphasizing competition, private-sector investment and earlier technical assessment to identify promising solutions and accelerate their development.
“We’re lowering the barriers and providing incentives, and we’re committed to making our defense industrial base not a handful of large primes and everyone else, but a robust ecosystem of innovative defense companies,” said Under Secretary of the Army Michael A. Obadal.
Under Secretary of the Army Michael A. Obadal speaks with White House Cabinet Secretary Meghan Bauer while observing the xTech|Disrupt Endurance finalist pitches at AUSA 2026.
For Army acquisition leaders, expanding that industrial base is inseparable from the need to move faster. Emerging threats are challenging traditional development timelines, while commercial innovation is increasingly producing technologies that could address military requirements without requiring the Army to initiate development from the ground up.
“The scale and the speed of warfare will be superhuman,” said Dr. Alex Miller, the Army’s chief technology officer. “We do not have the seconds to milliseconds of time to make decisions. We actually have to get faster than that.”
The Army’s inaugural xTech|Disrupt competition at AUSA in 2025 offered an early demonstration of that approach. Within 30 days of selection\, seven of eight winning companies participated in Soldier experimentation at the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center in Hawaii. Six integrated their technologies into the exercise\, with one recommended for fielding and four identified for further experimentation. The results illustrated how a competitive industry engagement could lead directly to operational assessment, generating Soldier feedback and informing follow-on decisions before committing to longer-term development or acquisition efforts.
Building on that experience\, xTech|Disrupt returned to AUSA in 2026 with two challenges designed around specific Army requirements\, pairing rapid commercial technology discovery with opportunities for further technical maturation and integration.
xTech|Disrupt Endurance: Powering Distributed Operations The Army’s growing reliance on unmanned systems, advanced sensors and networked command-and-control capabilities is increasing demand for reliable power across dispersed formations. In large-scale combat operations, the ability to generate, store and distribute energy while reducing fuel consumption and resupply requirements directly affects operational reach, survivability and freedom of maneuver. xTech|Disrupt Endurance challenged industry to bring forward commercial technologies capable of addressing these demands. Over three days at AUSA\, 89 participants delivered 60-second elevator pitches before Army subject matter experts. Eighteen advanced to five-minute presentations before a judging panel on the xTech|Disrupt main stage\, where five winners were selected:
- Chariot Defense
- Harbinger Praesidia
- Our Next Energy Inc. (ONE)
- PacMar Technologies
- United Protective Technologies LLC
Winners of xTech|Disrupt Endurance pose with Army Acquisition Executive HON Brent Ingraham\, PIT Director COL Daiyaan\, and FUZE Director Dr. Matt Willis at AUSA 2026.
Each of the winning companies received a $100,000 non-dillutive cash prize. As a condition of receiving their awards, the winners must register their proposed solutions in the Army’s API Marketplace within 30 days. The marketplace supports the Army’s shift away from closed, proprietary systems by making technical interface information more accessible to government and industry developers. The requirement also reinforces the Army’s emphasis on interoperable power generation and storage technologies capable of integrating with existing and future Army platforms
xTech|Disrupt Fires: Developing Affordable Interceptors for the Modern Battlefield The proliferation of low-cost unmanned aircraft systems and increasingly complex aerial threats is placing new demands on Army air defense. Defeating inexpensive threats with significantly more costly interceptors creates an unfavorable cost exchange, placing pressure on defensive inventories, production capacity and the ability to sustain operations against threats employed at scale.
“If we’re using a $10 million missile to shoot down a $5,000 quadcopter, the math doesn’t quite work,” said Dr. Matt Willis, director of Army FUZE.
Army Acquisition Executive HON Brent Ingraham delivers remarks alongside Lt. Gen Lozano of PAE Fires during the xTech|Disrupt Fires Award Ceremony at AUSA 2026.
In collaboration with the Army’s Program Management Executives (PME) Defensive Fires\, xTech|Disrupt Fires is pursuing affordable\, medium-range interceptor technologies capable of defeating cruise missiles\, unmanned aircraft systems and other aerial threats. Candidate solutions must address Army performance requirements and support integration with the Indirect Fire Protection Capability system of systems\, including the Integrated Battle Command System and Sentinel A4 radar.
The competition marks the second xTech effort with PME Defensive Fires\, following the launch of xTech|Apex Intercept in July of this year. Together\, the efforts provide PME Defensive Fires with additional avenues to identify\, evaluate and mature technologies that could strengthen the Army’s layered air and missile defense architecture.
“We’re looking to ‘disrupt’ our current paradigm for engaging with industry,” said COL John Allen Redford, chief of staff for the Fires Future Capabilities Directorate (FCD). “Leveraging industry backing their own money to give us something is an amazing opportunity.”
The competition attracted 45 applicants, with 10 advancing to the semifinals. Following technical evaluations and presentations before Army subject matter experts, four companies were selected as finalists, each receiving a $1 million prize to support continued technology development:
- Furientis
- Singularity Defense Corporation
- Wardstone, Inc.
- Zone 5 Technologies, LLC
xTech|Disrupt Fires finalists join Army Acquisition Executive Brent Ingraham; LTG Lozano\, PAE Fires; COL Yelverton\, PAE Fires; PIT Director\, COL Daiyaan; and FUZE Direct Dr. Matt Willis during the awards ceremony at AUSA 2026.
The finalist awards begin a yearlong development effort leading to a planned live Army demonstration in September 2027. During that period, companies will mature their technologies against Army-defined requirements and demonstrate progress through technical milestones and stage-gates. The demonstration will provide an opportunity to evaluate interceptor performance and integration potential against Army requirements, informing decisions about continued development and potential acquisition pathways.
With up to $20 million in total cash prizes\, xTech|Disrupt Fires represents the largest competition in xTech history. Following the final demonstration\, up to four winners may receive an additional $4 million each\, contingent on competition results and applicable award requirements.
Beyond the Prize: Advancing Army Capabilities The $4.5 million awarded at AUSA represents more than prize funding. Through xTech and the broader Army FUZE enterprise, selected companies gain a direct partner within the Department of War, with access to the technical expertise, operational feedback and acquisition resources needed to advance their technologies beyond the competition stage.
“This is the starting block. Through FUZE, you are gaining a direct partner in the Department of War. We will provide the test ranges, the Soldier touchpoints, and the acquisition pipelines to scale your technology from a prototype on this stage into a fielded system,” Willis said. That commitment reflects the larger purpose of the xTech Program: not simply identifying promising commercial technologies, but giving them a pathway to prove their military utility, mature against Army requirements and ultimately deliver capabilities to Soldiers.
About the Army FUZE xTech Program The Army FUZE xTech Program is the Army’s premier tool for scouting and accelerating dual-use technologies that directly enhance Soldier readiness and mission success. Through dynamic prize competitions like xTech|Search\, xTech identifies breakthrough solutions and opens doors for nontraditional companies to engage with and deliver capabilities to the Army. Since its launch in 2018\, xTech has awarded over $30 million in non-dilutive cash prizes across 50+ competitions – fueling innovation pipelines and delivering transformative technologies that matter on the battlefield.
Learn more at the Army PIT website: https://pit.army.mil/pathway/xtech/
About Army FUZE Army FUZE is the engine driving innovation within the Army’s integrated innovation ecosystem, strategically aligned under the Army’s Pathway for Innovation and Technology (PIT). By uniting key programs such as xTech, Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer, Manufacturing Technology, and the Technology Maturation Initiative within a synchronized framework, FUZE accelerates advanced capabilities, strengthens the industrial base, and delivers readiness at the speed of relevance. Operating with a venture capitalist mindset, FUZE scouts broadly, takes calculated risks, and scales the most promising technologies, ensuring taxpayer dollars are directed toward solutions with both Army operational relevance and commercial viability. Through its alignment with PIT, FUZE underscores the Army’s commitment to fostering innovation, streamlining technology transitions, and bridging the gap between emerging technologies and critical operational needs to maintain military overmatch.
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