AFRL Commander’s Challenge kicks off; 2 teams entrusted to deliver low-cost solutions by year’s end

A group of 2024 Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, Commander’s Challenge competitors from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., gather for a team photo at a kickoff event held at the Wright Brothers Institute in Dayton, Ohio, May 17, 2024. The seven competitors and their three mentors, representing AFRL’s Directed Energy and Munitions directorates, answered AFRL Commander Maj. Gen. Scott A. Cain’s March 2024 call for contenders in this year’s competition. With just six months and a $75,000 budget, the Eglin-Kirtland team will develop and deliver low-cost solutions to counter slow-moving, high-altitude aerial targets. They will face off with a Wright-Patterson Air Force Base-based team in a final competition in December, where they will demonstrate and test their proposed solutions before a panel of judges. (U.S. Air Force photo / Gail L. Forbes)