(San Carlos, CA) – Beacon AI has been selected for a U.S. Air Force Direct-to-Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to prototype its Large Language Model (LLM)-powered solution for enhancing mission risk awareness and safety in flight operations.
This new award supports the integration of Beacon’s platform into military flight planning workflows. By leveraging advancements in artificial intelligence, the platform ingests dense and diverse briefing materials, including NOTAMs, weather data, and flight briefing summaries, and delivers concise, actionable risk assessments tailored to the mission at hand.
“Mission data isn’t scarce; attention is. The goal of this effort is to free crews to think like tacticians, not data clerks,” said Matt Cox, CEO, Beacon AI. “If we shave even ten minutes off each brief while catching one more hazard, the ROI for readiness and safety is enormous.”
Currently, the operational challenges faced by Air Force crews are overwhelming. In fiscal year 2023 alone, aircrews logged over 1 million flying hours, averaging about 2,800 hours each day across roughly 570,000 sorties. Each mission requires extensive preparation, often involving several hours of planning and briefing. This accumulated effort totals well over a million crew-hours annually dedicated solely to mission preparation, placing immense pressure on operational capacity and sometimes leading to missed details.
The initial application focuses on Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) aircrews operating the C-146A Wolfhound, where rapid, accurate comprehension of complex pre-mission information is critical. The solution is designed to reduce cognitive load for pilots, improve safety, and ensure threats are identified early, while reducing the required additional review time.
Captain Peter Burns, an AFSOC pilot with the 67th Special Operations Squadron, asserts, “In risk management, you need to be predictive. LLMs are probabilistic by design, making them well-suited to anticipate the compound risks that lead to aviation mishaps. This project equips crews with insights that enhance judgment, inspire mitigation, and interrupt the error chain before it begins.”
While the effort starts with AFSOC, other Air Force units, including executive airlift, various mobility missions, and training flights, can benefit from the platform’s ability to streamline processes and enhance risk understanding across different briefing systems. Beacon AI’s approach aligns with the Department of the Air Force operational priorities to improve mission effectiveness, reduce human error, and accelerate the adoption of trusted AI tools in the cockpit. This also serves a dual-use purpose, with the potential to expand to commercial operators, who conducted over 35 million scheduled flights worldwide in 2023.
About Beacon AI
Beacon AI is a California-based aviation software technology company specializing in developing advanced systems to augment commercial and defense pilots. Our AI pilot assistant is like R2-D2 for pilots. The company’s mission is to enhance the future of flight by making flight operations safer and more efficient. Beacon’s innovative solutions address the complex challenges faced by the aviation sector, backed by leading investors including Costanoa Ventures, Scout Ventures, Sam Altman through Apollo Projects and Hydrazine Capital, and JetBlue Ventures, Mischief, and guided by aviation industry advisors including Hon. Robert Sumwalt (former Chairman of the NTSB) and Ali Bahrami (former Associate Administrator of the FAA).
About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory 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 force. With a workforce of more than 12,500 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across 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 five hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has executed over 6,200 new contracts worth more than $4.7 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit afwerx.com.