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On October 21, Tysons, VA-based DEFCON AI, a modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A) company centered on logistics and mobility, announced that it was awarded a Department of the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract through AFWERX/Agility Prime to support the continued development of its operational-level logistics training software. The award, formally received through DEFCON AI’s incubator, Red Cell Partners, advances DEFCON AI’s near-term capabilities which are being developed for deployment to the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command (AMC), a US Air Force major command and component of US Transportation Command.
DEFCON AI is building a training and rehearsal software platform containing a modeling and simulation environment that leverages cutting-edge technology to create a digital replica of AMC’s operational logistics network to support training and mission planning in the event of a disruption. The platform is being built to aid in managing complex supply chains and mobility network disruptions caused by natural disasters or manipulation by capable adversaries.
“We have seen the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on global supply chains — supplies have not made it to their destination by the time they were needed — these types of impacts can also occur within AMC’s network,” said General (retired) Paul Selva, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former Commander of US Transportation Command, and DEFCON AI’s Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “We must expect that our future adversaries will explicitly prevent the buildup of regional forces and will use direct and indirect means to disrupt US deployment and sustainment operations. Understanding that these future events may arise, it is essential that we build and have mechanisms in place to prepare for such scenarios.”
The DEFCON AI software is being designed to enable AMC operational-level planners to see the downstream effects of decisions within a simulated mobility network. Planners will be able to compare different courses of action and replay scenarios, such that lessons learned could be adapted and used in the event of a real-world disruption or in contested environments.
Col. Bradley Rueter, Director of the AMC Commander’s Initiative Group commented: “It’s not hard to imagine a future environment that presents a variety of dilemmas that confound how Air Mobility Command has executed rapid global mobility in the past, when the focus was on countering violent extremist organizations. Giving mobility planners, at all echelons, a way to better understand a future where disruptions are common (and multi-domain) will allow them to overcome those challenges with novel strategies or schemes of maneuver. What we asked DEFCON AI to build is a vastly different approach to training and provides operational capability as well. We are excited to work alongside this experienced team to enhance AMC’s capabilities and readiness in deploying, sustaining, and maneuvering the Joint Force despite any dilemmas the future might present.”
“The DEFCON AI team is honored to be working with Air Mobility Command in our aligned missions of integrating technological capabilities and tools into mobility training and decision-making processes. In working side by side with AMC, we look forward to building the next generation of mobility preparedness technologies,” said Yisroel Brumer, former Principal Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation and DEFCON AI’s Co-Founder and CEO.
DEFCON AI is the latest incubation out of Red Cell Partners, a McLean, VA-based venture studio that leverages big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, and advanced materials to develop and scale powerful technologies to address the nation’s most pressing problems in the areas of national security and healthcare. Red Cell Partners is led by co-founders Grant Verstandig, CEO, and Yisroel Brumer, President. The group’s National Security Practice is chaired by the Honorable Mark T. Esper, the 27th Secretary of Defense.
Source: DEFCON AI
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