By Eleanor Kent, Army FUZE  

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is advancing a new model for how it discovers, evaluates, and fields emerging technologies. By embedding rapid experimentation into its innovation pipeline, the Army is accelerating how it validates, refines, and delivers new capabilities to Soldiers, while opening more doors for commercially derived solutions and nontraditional partners. As the Department of War (DOW) advances major acquisition reforms to streamline how it buys and manages capability portfolios, competitions like xTechDisrupt provide a practical way to identify high-potential technologies early, invest in them, and move them into realistic operational environments faster than traditional processes allow. xTechDisrupt – the Army FUZE xTech Program’s latest live competition – demonstrated this approach through a fast-paced cycle of selection, operational assessment, and Soldier-driven feedback that concluded last month at the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) experimentation event in Hawaii. 

xTechDisrupt at AUSA: Showcasing Innovation on a Premier Army Stage 

Held during the 2025 Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., xTechDisrupt marked the program’s fourth live event and its debut competition at AUSA – one of the Army’s largest industry stages. With a total prize pool of $500,000, the competition focused on four priority technology areas: electronic warfare, power generation and storage, unmanned aerial systems, and counter-unmanned aerial systems. 

Interest from industry was significant. The program received 265 pre-registration applications and an additional 110 on-site applicants during the conference. Notably, 57% of those applicants had no prior experience working with the Army, underscoring xTech’s effectiveness in attracting nontraditional innovators. From this pool, thirty-two companies advanced to on-site pitches, where finalists demonstrated mission-relevant solutions before a panel of Army and subject-matter experts.  

Reflecting the Army’s enthusiasm for the technologies surfaced by xTechDisrupt, Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll emphasized the Army “wants to see your innovation, wants to buy it, and wants to support it.” He added, “This will fundamentally move forward our Army and our allies’ armies.” underscoring senior leadership’s commitment to accelerating commercial innovation through the xTech Program. 

After a competitive day of demonstrations and technical discussions, the Secretary announced eight xTechDisrupt winners. Each received $62,500 in cash prizes and two exclusive opportunities that extend beyond the competition itself. The first connected selected winners with Y Combinator, one of the world’s most influential startup accelerators, giving their technologies exposure to a global network of mentors, investors, and technical experts who can help accelerate maturation and long-term viability in both defense and commercial markets. The second was an invitation to participate in a live Army experimentation event, ensuring each company’s technology is shaped early by real Soldier touchpoints. 

The eight xTechDisrupt winners pose with their checks following the live competition at AUSA 2025. Visit the xTechDisrupt competition page for a full list of the winners. 

View the full list of xTechDisrupt winners: https://xtech.army.mil/competition/xtechdisrupt/.   

JPMRC Experimentation: Moving from Selection to Soldier Touchpoints in 30 Days 

Less than 30 days after the competition concluded, xTechDisrupt finalists traveled to Hawaii to participate in active Army training exercises at the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center, hosted by the 25th Infantry Division. The event provided an immersive, mission-representative environment where Soldiers could engage directly with selected technologies during live training operations. 

Throughout the event, Soldiers evaluated prototype performance in conditions that simulated real-world operational scenarios. These interactions generated immediate insights on usability, durability, and integration potential within existing mission workflows. The rapid feedback loop – moving from competition stage to field assessment in under a month – allowed innovators to identify opportunities for refinement while simultaneously enabling the Army to assess the operational relevance of commercial capabilities far earlier in the development process.   

xTechDisrupt winner Mesodyne works with Soldiers at JPMRC experimentation event in Hawaii to demonstrate its fuel-agnostic, ultra-portable power generator. 

Industry participants echoed the value of this rapid transition to field training. R2 Wireless – xTechDisrupt awardee and participant in the JPMRC experimentation event – shared “R2 Wireless was excited to take part as an Army xTech winner – supporting the 25ID and the U.S. Army as they train, experiment, and push the boundaries of what’s possible for our warfighters.” R2 Wireless noted that they were “proud to play a role in securing the wireless front and helping the force to innovate rapidly, disrupt, and win on the modern battlefield.” R2 Wireless added that participating in JPMRC enabled them to validate and demonstrate an expanded capability beyond the primary C-UAS mission their system ODIN is known for – a capability R2 Wireless had not demonstrated prior to the rotation – reinforcing the value of exposing commercial solutions to operational training environments.  

This pace reflects the Army’s broader Continuous Transformation approach. By reducing procedural barriers and prioritizing early Soldier involvement, the Army is demonstrating what becomes possible when it brings commercial innovators and operational units together in real time. xTechDisrupt illustrated the value of this model by placing technologies selected on a national stage at AUSA directly in the hands of Soldiers at JPMRC just weeks later, enabling early operational validation and informing future transition pathways.  

Redefining Army-Industry Collaboration 

The rapid experimentation model enabled by xTechDisrupt reflects the broader shift under Army FUZE: synchronizing innovation efforts, compressing acquisition timelines, and expanding opportunities for nontraditional companies to work with the Army. Through coordinated discovery, Soldier-informed evaluation, and field experimentation, the xTech Program strengthens the Army’s ability to identify promising technologies early, test them faster, and guide them toward transition.  

By linking the xTechDisrupt competition directly to a live operational assessment at JPMRC within weeks, the Army is demonstrating how rapid transitions from discovery to Soldier engagement accelerate the evaluation of emerging capabilities and strengthen transition pathways.  

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 xTechSearch, 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 48 competitions—fueling innovation pipelines and delivering transformative technologies that matter on the battlefield. 

Learn more at the Army FUZE xTech website: https://fuze.army.mil/. 

About the Army FUZE  

Army FUZE is the Army’s integrated innovation ecosystem. It brings together four flagship innovation programs – xTech, Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer, Manufacturing Technology, and the Technology Maturation Initiative – under a coordinated and synchronized framework to accelerate advanced capabilities, strengthen the industrial base, and deliver readiness at the speed of relevance. FUZE operates with a venture capitalist mindset, scouting broadly, taking calculated risks, and scaling the most promising technologies. This approach ensures taxpayer dollars are directed toward solutions with both Army operational relevance and commercial viability, while creating clearer pathways and reduced barriers for industry participation. 

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