U.S. Air Force Selects LGNDX for Phase III Deployment of Defense Acquisition Platform

Rare transition from SBIR Phase I to Phase III validates LGNDX's platform designed to accelerate technology adoption across the defense ecosystem.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- LGNDX, a defense technology company building mission software, announced today that it has been awarded a U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract to deploy Innovation Exchange (IX.MIL), a defense acquisition platform designed to accelerate how defense organizations discover, evaluate, fund, and transition emerging technologies into operational use.

Preview the platform and join the early access waitlist at ix.lgndx.com

The effort advanced directly from SBIR Phase I to a Phase III award, a rare transition that reflects the government's confidence in the technology and its potential operational impact. While thousands of companies participate in the SBIR program each year, only a small percentage successfully transition their technology to Phase III. These awards represent one of the primary pathways for moving promising technologies beyond research and development and into operational use.

IX.MIL is currently being developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Air Force Digital Transformation Office (DTO) and the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) to address one of the defense innovation ecosystem's most persistent challenges: connecting government requirements, capable technology providers, acquisition pathways, and strategic partners quickly enough to deliver meaningful outcomes for the warfighter.

"The United States doesn't have an innovation problem. It has an acquisition problem," said Mike Aleo, Founder and Partner at LGNDX. "There are extraordinary technologies being developed across the industry. Too many never reach the mission. IX.MIL is designed to reduce friction across that journey by helping organizations identify opportunities, build teams, navigate acquisition pathways, and move faster from concept to capability."

Defense innovation remains fragmented across disconnected systems, portals, contract vehicles, and organizational boundaries. Small businesses struggle to identify the right pathways into government. Program offices struggle to discover relevant technologies. Prime contractors struggle to identify the right teaming partners. Promising technologies often stall between prototype and deployment, creating the well-known "Valley of Death" that continues to challenge innovation efforts across the Department of Defense.

IX.MIL is designed to serve as connective infrastructure across that ecosystem, bringing together government stakeholders, small businesses, nontraditional vendors, prime contractors, and strategic partners in a single environment focused on accelerating technology acquisition.

The award also validates LGNDX's broader strategy of building operational software platforms that solve systemic challenges across the national security and dual-use ecosystem.

LGNDX continues to support a growing portfolio of government and private-sector innovators across AI, defense, and infrastructure, building modern software to address consequential national security challenges.

"LGNDX was founded to accelerate the very decision-making this platform is designed to improve," said Patrick Sims, Founder and Partner at LGNDX. "The award reflects a rare progression from Phase I research into a Phase III operational deployment. The IX.MIL platform is built from firsthand experience navigating the defense acquisition ecosystem. We built this because we've lived the challenges ourselves. Our belief is simple: the faster the government can discover, evaluate, and field new technologies, the faster needed capability gets into the hands of the warfighter."

About LGNDX

The LGNDX Product Innovation Studio builds mission software that helps government organizations and dual-use innovators discover and evaluate technologies, plan missions, test capabilities, and move faster from information to action. Its growing product portfolio spans acquisition modernization, simulation and wargaming, mission planning, and AI-enabled decision-making.

For more information, visit ix.lgndx.com.

Media Contact
Patrick Sims
Founder & Partner, LGNDX 
[email protected]  

SOURCE LGNDX