Lineaje Secures U.S. Air Force Phase II Contract for Self-Healing Software Supply Chain Innovations

Company earns maximum $1.8 million award, following Phase I success

SARATOGA, Calif., July 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lineaje, the full-lifecycle software supply chain security company, today announced it has been awarded a $1.8 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II contract by AFWERX, the Department of the Air Force (DAF) innovation arm. The company earned the maximnatum funding amount for Phase II participants, following the successful completion of Phase I, where Lineaje proved the value of its enriched Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) generation, vulnerability discovery, tamper detection, and foreign code contributors in mission-critical third-party open-source software.

According to Lineaje AI Labs, nearly all software weaknesses (95%) originate from open-source dependencies — the same components that power 90% of applications. Poor visibility, an expanded threat surface from AI-driven systems, and a lack of tools and processes to analyze critical software and their supply chains have led to a significant increase in software supply chain attacks. Last year alone, Enterprise Strategy Group, now part of Omdia, reported that 91% of enterprises fell victim to software supply chain incidents. With the sensitive nature of national security data in applications built and bought by the U.S. Air Force and other federal entities, these organizations need a holistic view of the software supply chain and auto-remediation capabilities to not only protect against today's threat actors but to neutralize the threats of tomorrow.

For Phase II, the company will enhance its recently launched self-healing software supply chain capabilities with autonomous vulnerability remediation of production container images and source code. Unlike traditional solutions, Lineaje autonomously detects compatibility, enabling repairs of open-source vulnerabilities in applications without breakage. It also verifies component integrity and enforces software assurance continuously and at scale.

"The escalating threat of adversaries compromising military software supply chains demands a defense that is not merely proactive, but strategically anticipatory," asserted Nick Mistry, SVP and CISO of Lineaje. "Receiving the maximum AFWERX award underscores the Department of the Air Force's unwavering commitment to comprehensively securing its entire software stack. Our cutting-edge, automated remediation capabilities will empower the Air Force to deploy mission-critical software continuously, without introducing undue risks, thereby profoundly strengthening our nation's digital infrastructure."

The STTR Contract Program

The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018, which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded. The programs foster collaboration between the public and private sectors to accelerate federal research and development.

Recently, the Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX partnered to streamline the SBIR and STTR process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal-to-award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small businesses, and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. By implementing the Phase II program, Lineaje has established the scientific, technical, and commercial merit of its end-to-end capabilities that transform how the DAF protects its most critical software.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.

To learn more about Lineaje's full lifecycle software supply chain capabilities, please visit www.lineaje.com.

About Lineaje
Lineaje provides full-lifecycle software supply chain security to meet the specific compliance, governance and efficiency needs of companies that source, build or buy critical software. Its technology results in continuous protection by allowing users to prevent attacks, tampers and other issues at the source, contextualize and prioritize risks, and implement fixes at any stage of the development lifecycle. Customers use Lineaje to deliver zero-vulnerability code, comply with key regulations, manage SBOMs, assess third-party vendor risks, correlate risk data to better inform responses and build self-healing software supply chains. The company is trusted by top technology, financial and public sector organizations that need to secure and manage critical code, complex software supply chains, and large software portfolios.

Know your application with Lineaje full-lifecycle software supply chain security. Learn more at https://www.lineaje.com, read our blog and follow on LinkedIn.

About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace forces. With a workforce spanning across nine technology areas and 40 other operations around the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit afresearchlab.com.

About AFWERX

As the innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX employs approximately 370 military, civilian and contractor personnel at four hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has awarded over 10,400 contracts worth more than $7.24 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: afwerx.com.

SOURCE Lineaje