Firehawk receives $1.25M Air Force contract to develop longer-lasting propellants for defense applications.
Firehawk Aerospace has won a US$1.25 million contract to work on advanced propellant technology for defense applications, building on the company’s collaboration with the Air Force.
AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force, with support from the Air Force Research Laboratory, issued the Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract.
“Firehawk Aerospace is excited to continue to prove the capabilities, scalability, and cost-effectiveness of our propellant capabilities for air-to-air weapon systems,” said Mike Stark, President of Firehawk Aerospace.
The project centers on the corporation’s additive manufacturing of solid propellant technology. Work involves new formulations, testing small-scale motors, doing demonstrations on a full scale, and looking at costs and performance.
Firehawk aims to improve shelf life of propellants while making storage, deployment, and activation more efficient, particularly in contested or remote environments.
The funding is part of broader defense innovation efforts. In November 2024, AFWERX also awarded US$1.8 million to Raven Space Systems for 3D printed reentry aeroshells and a similar amount to AscendArc for military communications technology.
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AFWERX supports small businesses developing technologies that address critical defense needs, connecting these companies with military requirements while strengthening the industrial base.
