{"id":34771,"date":"2019-12-05T18:58:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T18:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2019\/12\/05\/six-small-simulation-companies-rack-up-1m-contracts-after-shark-tank-style-pitches-to-us-air-force\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:59:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:59:28","slug":"six-small-simulation-companies-rack-up-1m-contracts-after-shark-tank-style-pitches-to-us-air-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/industry\/2019\/12\/05\/six-small-simulation-companies-rack-up-1m-contracts-after-shark-tank-style-pitches-to-us-air-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Six small simulation companies rack up $1M contracts after \u2018Shark Tank\u2019-style pitches to US Air Force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 On Wednesday, six small businesses pitched U.S. Air Force acquisition leaders<\/a> on unique training and simulation technologies, each walking away with a $1 million contract in as little as 20 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inaugural Simulators Pitch Day <\/a>at the Interservice\/Industry, Training, Simulation and Education Conference was the third \u201cShark Tank\u201d-style event <\/a>held by the service in the hopes of broadening its industrial base to include small companies, startups and other firms that don\u2019t typically work with the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought what they presented was awesome. But actually I felt a sense of accomplishment, which is something that we sometimes don\u2019t feel in acquisitions because it often takes forever to get something done,\u201d said Col. Phillip Carpenter, the Air Force\u2019s senior materiel leader for the simulators program office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here for more from I\/ITSEC.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a Thursday event that allowed the six companies to take a victory lap by pitching their products to an audience of Air Force and industry officials attending the conference, Carpenter recounted how he felt presenting each company with funding meant to help further develop their products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe looks on their faces \u2014 I know the feelings that they felt about the opportunity to participate with us in our mission. In 25 years of doing acquisitions it was probably one of the greatest feelings I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the Air Force didn\u2019t limit the types of technologies that companies could pitch, it sought out several specific technologies including high-end weather effects for gaming environments, high-fidelity simulators that could be deployed to austere locations, cloud-based simulators and artificial intelligence-aided instruction tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, Perceptronics Solutions, Information Systems Laboratories, DTI, PlaneEnglish, Take Flight and King Crow Studios were chosen to present 10-minute proposals during a closed-door session with Air Force acquisition officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technologies presented by the companies covered a wide variety of niche gaps in the simulation industry. DTI pitched a stereoscopic 3D display that doesn\u2019t require specialized 3D glasses \u2014 something the company believes might one day be a useful upgrade for the remote vision system used by KC-46 boom operators. Plane English proposed an aviation radio simulation for aircrews to familiarize themselves with radio chatter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other pitches were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n