Xtremis Wins Defense Innovation Unit's Spectrum Strike Prize Challenge

WEST FORK, Ark., Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Xtremis announced that its spectrumOS platform was selected as the winner of the Spectrum Strike Prize Challenge, a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) competition to modernize how the U.S. military plans, coordinates, and authorizes use of the electromagnetic spectrum - the frequencies allocated for activities like wireless communications and radar.

Xtremis was selected from 43 respondents after a multistage evaluation culminating in a live, hands-on demonstration at Fort Carson, Colorado. Government spectrum managers used spectrumOS to process operational data, model the radio-frequency environment, identify potential conflicts, and prepare spectrum authorization requests for review.

Project Spectrum Strike addresses a longstanding operational challenge: military spectrum authorizations can take 75 to 180 days and still rely heavily on manual processes and disconnected systems. Those timelines are increasingly strained by the rapid decision-making demands of modern warfare. DIU challenged participants to demonstrate an enterprise approach that could adapt to dynamic electromagnetic environments and sharply reduce planning and coordination time through automation.

"Today, the electromagnetic spectrum is a decisive maneuver space. Almost every aspect of modern warfare relies on effective, efficient navigation of this invisible environment, but the processes used to manage that access have not kept pace with wireless demand," said Adam Jay Harrison, CEO of Xtremis. "What made Project Spectrum Strike particularly meaningful was putting spectrumOS directly in the hands of the people responsible for these decisions. Spectrum managers and electronic warfare personnel used the platform against an operationally relevant problem and saw what it could do. We are proud of the result and the team that built it."

spectrumOS is Xtremis' spectrum management and orchestration platform, helping military decision-makers see, understand, plan, and act with unprecedented speed and accuracy in complex electromagnetic environments. It combines agentic artificial intelligence, software automation, physics-based radio-frequency modeling, and real-time sensor data to accelerate time-intensive data processing, modeling, and coordination while preserving human authority over consequential spectrum decisions. This enables faster action without sacrificing the judgment and oversight complex operations require.

Xtremis' Spectrum Strike solution builds on the company's established spectrum warfare work across the Department of War. The Advanced Dynamic Spectrum Reconnaissance (ADSR) system, a distributed electromagnetic spectrum situational awareness capability developed by Xtremis, has operated continuously with U.S. military and allied units since 2023. The Spectrum Strike selection follows other recent Department of War milestones, including selection for the Advanced Spectrum Coexistence (ASC) program and participation in the Army's Project Convergence Capstone 6 (PCC6) experiment. Together, these efforts expand Xtremis' role from persistent awareness and operational ground truth to spectrum planning, coexistence, and orchestration.

The Spectrum Strike result positions Xtremis in a large and growing mission area. A June 2026 GAO report found that the Department of War - the largest federal spectrum user by total frequency assignments - faces rising demand as it escalates deployments of spectrum-intensive systems. This demand will only increase as competition over spectrum access in modern conflict environments like Ukraine intensifies.

The commercial telecommunications and wireless industry faces a parallel constraint: wireless demand continues to grow while usable spectrum remains finite. U.S. wireless data consumption reached a record 132.5 trillion megabytes in 2025 after growing roughly 35 percent annually over the previous three years. Xtremis' dual-use technology can provide the observation, verification, and assurance needed to reduce interference and support more intensive, authorized spectrum sharing. That capability can strengthen military spectrum advantage, help telecommunications providers expand capacity across 5G, emerging 6G, and other wireless services, and position Xtremis for substantial growth in defense and commercial markets.

About Xtremis

Headquartered in Devils Den, AR, with offices in Washington, DC, and Nashville, TN, Xtremis develops advanced spectrum intelligence technologies that help organizations see, understand, and act in the electromagnetic environment. Its AI-enabled software and hardware provide real-time spectrum awareness, RF characterization, and operational decision support for defense, national security, and critical infrastructure missions.

Kian Hassani - [email protected]

Julia Monford - [email protected]

SOURCE Xtremis