Intelligent Services Architecture for Point Defense

Summary (Newest Update)

Background The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is focused on advancing Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-sUAS) and Counter-UAS capabilities, which support the Air Base Air Defense (ABAD) and broader USAF Force Design Mission Areas. This initiative aims to enhance military utility by delivering adaptable, intelligent, autonomy-enabled capabilities that integrate with existing ABAD architectures. The goal is to provide services that can be configured based on specific Areas of Responsibility (AOR), locations, critical assets, expected threat pictures, Rules of Engagement (ROEs), defense plans, and force protection requirements. Work Details The scope of this contract involves transforming the Point Defense kill chain through the development or provision of intelligent and autonomous services aimed at defeating swarm and complex UAS scenarios via comprehensive ABAD coordination. Key tasks include: 1) Maturation of Government Reference Architecture (GRA) and integration of intelligent autonomy and AI-driven analysis procedures to enhance air picture awareness, deconfliction, and rapid decision-making; 2) Enabling intelligent deployment of effects optimized in real-time based on air picture data, available resources, ROEs, cost-per-kill metrics, ideal weapon-threat pairing, and precise timing for maximizing defensive effectiveness; 3) Seeking information on architectural frameworks and advanced software solutions that contribute to an autonomous Point Defense kill chain against swarm threats; 4) Gathering industry experience related to GRAs and standards for multimodal sensing and overall kill chain automation; 5) Identifying limitations within current GRAs or standards and proposing methodologies to address these gaps. Place of Performance The contract will be performed at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH.