01. Tessellate: US Air Force
CHALLENGE
Battalion-level mission commanders need a unified command interface to supervise and coordinate distributed drone fleets in order to reduce cognitive overload, compress decision cycles, and keep pace with the demands of modern multi-domain operations.
RELEVANT CONTEXT
- The Department of Defense is actively shifting toward distributed drone fleets as a core warfighting concept, but command-and-control architecture remains locked in a one-pilot, one-drone paradigm that was not designed for multi-asset operations.
- When supervising three or more drones simultaneously, battalion-level mission commanders face severe cognitive overload due to fragmented sensor feeds arriving across disconnected interfaces, forcing attention to be split in ways that slow decision cycles.
- Primary end users are battalion-level mission commanders who must coordinate multi-drone operations in real time — a task the current toolset was never built to support at scale.
- Development and validation partners include the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), the Defense Autonomy Working Group (DAWG), and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).
IMPACT
If this problem were solved, battalion-level commanders would be able to supervise and coordinate distributed drone fleets through a unified command interface, reducing cognitive burden and compressing decision cycles. This would allow the DoD to fully leverage the tactical advantages of distributed drone operations — improving mission effectiveness and keeping pace with the speed of modern multi-domain conflict.
02. Marten: Department of War
Marten is exploring how AI can help the Intelligence Community and Department of War collect and analyze OSINT on US adversaries. Currently, collection and exploitation gaps are leading to strategic surprise, policy errors, and inefficient development of countermeasures.
03. SwarmShield: DIU
CHALLENGE
Base commanders and force protection units need a scalable, cost-effective counter-UAS solution capable of defeating coordinated low-cost drone swarm attacks in order to restore the defensive cost advantage and protect personnel and installations across contested operating environments.
RELEVANT CONTEXT
- Adversaries have demonstrated the ability to deploy waves of low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles in coordinated attacks, and current defensive systems — designed for singular, high-value threats — are being overwhelmed in both capacity and economics.
- The cost-per-engagement for existing counter-UAS solutions is unsustainable at swarm scale: using expensive interceptors against cheap commercial drones creates a cost asymmetry that adversaries deliberately exploit.
- Analysis of kill chains for swarm threats reveals that current systems fail not just at intercept, but at detection, prioritization, and engagement sequencing — compounding the overall defensive gap.
- Primary beneficiaries include base commanders operating in active threat environments, with specific relevance to forces at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), and NATO’s eastern flank, where low-cost drone threats are most persistent.
IMPACT
If this problem were solved, base commanders and force protection units would have a scalable, cost-effective solution capable of detecting, prioritizing, and defeating coordinated drone swarm attacks without relying on expensive interceptor munitions. This would restore the defensive cost advantage, reduce vulnerability at fixed installations, and extend viable protection to forward-deployed forces across CENTCOM, INDOPACOM, and NATO’s eastern flank.
04. Noctua: US Marine Corps
CHALLENGE
Dismounted infantry, special operations forces, and fixed military installations need a lightweight, wearable acoustic detection system in order to detect, localize, and track RF-silent and autonomous drones in real time, providing early threat awareness and enhancing operator survivability without exposing the unit’s position.
RELEVANT CONTEXT
- Small unmanned aerial systems, particularly FPV drones, have become a dominant threat in modern conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, where they are widely used for surveillance, targeting, and direct attacks against ground personnel operating without advanced defensive infrastructure
- These drones often operate without emitting radio frequency signals or with minimal electronic signatures, making them difficult or impossible to detect using traditional sensing methods such as radar or RF scanners
- Conventional counter-drone systems were largely designed for larger platforms or environments with access to vehicles, fixed infrastructure, or significant power, leaving dismounted personnel with limited situational awareness against low-cost, highly maneuverable aerial threats
- Historical efforts to use acoustic sensing for battlefield awareness, such as the Boomerang system, demonstrated that sound-based localization is feasible, but these systems were narrowly focused on detecting supersonic bullet cracks rather than continuous or variable acoustic sources like drones
- Acoustic detection challenges are amplified in open and dynamic environments where background noise from wind, animals, vehicles, and human activity can mimic or mask target signatures, making consistent identification difficult without extensive data training
- Recent adaptations of acoustic monitoring in Ukraine involve fixed installations mounted on infrastructure like towers, where large sensor arrays and centralized processing enable high accuracy after significant data collection and model training
- The problem becomes more complex at the individual level because microphones must be placed close together on a single person, reducing the spatial separation needed for accurate time-difference-of-arrival calculations, which are critical for determining direction
- There is also a fundamental limitation in distinguishing between similar acoustic signatures, as many drones are rapidly modified or assembled from commercial components, resulting in inconsistent or overlapping sound profiles
- False positives have historically been a major failure point, where systems incorrectly classify benign sounds such as animals or environmental noise as threats, eroding user trust and leading to system abandonment
- The increasing accessibility and low cost of drone technology has accelerated the scale and frequency of this threat, creating a situation where detection must occur earlier and more reliably despite limited sensing resources
IMPACT
If this problem were solved, dismounted infantry, special operations forces, and installation commanders would gain a passive, low-SWaP capability to detect, localize, and track RF-silent and autonomous drones in real time, significantly improving battlefield awareness, enabling faster threat response, and closing a critical survivability gap at the tactical edge without revealing the unit’s position or relying on costly active sensor systems.
05. IonX: In-Q-Tel
CHALLENGE
The United States defense industrial base needs a domestically viable, energy-efficient method for separating heavy magnetic rare earth elements in order to reduce strategic dependence on China and secure the supply chain for critical weapons systems and advanced electronics.
RELEVANT CONTEXT
- Rare earth elements are formally designated under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act, reflecting their recognized importance to national defense — yet the U.S. supply chain remains critically constrained not by natural resource scarcity, but by regulatory barriers and limited domestic processing capacity.
- Separation is the most consequential step in the rare earth supply chain and represents the largest point of processing loss. Existing U.S. separation infrastructure, including operations at Mountain Pass, consumes approximately 14 times more energy than competitive international processes — making domestic production economically unviable at scale.
- China currently controls approximately 98% of the global supply of heavy magnetic rare earths, the specific subset most critical for permanent magnets used in defense systems, electric motors, and advanced electronics.
- This concentration of supply in a single geopolitical competitor creates a structural vulnerability in U.S. defense procurement — one that cannot be resolved by stockpiling alone without also rebuilding domestic processing capability.
IMPACT
If this problem were solved, the United States would gain a viable domestic pathway for heavy rare earth separation that is both energetically and economically competitive with Chinese processing. This would reduce strategic dependence on a single-source adversary, strengthen the defense industrial base, and make the rare earth supply chain resilient enough to sustain production of critical weapons systems and technologies without interruption.
06. Luminarch: US Army, 25th ID, DIU
CHALLENGE
Radio operators and ground force commanders need a reconfigurable RF antenna system with integrated spectrum analysis in order to dynamically manage their electromagnetic signature and maintain communications without revealing command post locations to adversaries.
RELEVANT CONTEXT
- Command posts generate detectable electromagnetic signatures from communications equipment — signatures that adversaries can use for geolocation and targeting. Fixed-metal antenna systems compound this problem by broadcasting on predictable frequencies that cannot be dynamically shifted to reduce detectability.
- Existing antenna architectures lack the ability to reconfigure across frequency bands in real time, forcing radio operators to choose between maintaining communications and managing their electronic signature — a tradeoff that creates persistent tactical risk.
- The proposed solution integrates a reconfigurable RF system with an onboard spectrum analyzer, enabling continuous situational awareness of the electromagnetic environment and the ability to adapt antenna behavior dynamically in response to threats.
- Primary users are radio operators and ground force commanders at the tactical level. The project is sponsored by the 25th Infantry Division, providing direct operational grounding and a clear validation pathway with active Army units.
IMPACT
If this problem were solved, radio operators and ground force commanders would be able to maintain communications while actively managing their electromagnetic signature — reducing the risk of detection and targeting by adversaries who exploit predictable RF emissions. This capability would directly improve survivability for command posts and the units they support, particularly in contested electromagnetic environments where signature discipline is a critical tactical requirement.
07. Fuel Forge: Army Research Laboratory, US Army
CHALLENGE
Combat units need a way to generate electrical energy or alternative fuels locally, in order to reduce reliance on vulnerable sustainment lines and extend operational reach while lowering risk to warfighters.
RELEVANT CONTEXT
- Legacy “one fuel policy” and reliance on JP-8 convoys expose forces to long-range fires, ISR, and interdiction, especially as adversaries target predictable logistics lines.
- Industrial processes for hydrogen, ammonia, and other fuels require large, energy-intensive infrastructure that cannot be easily miniaturized, ruggedized, or safely deployed in austere field environments.
- Field-deployable synthesis must convert abundant local feedstocks (air, water, sunlight) into usable fuels via compact, autonomous systems that manage hazards (toxicity, pressure, unintended reactions).
- Recent DoD research and commercial advances (hydrogen carriers, ammonia adoption, electrified and hybrid propulsion) provide a technology base that could be adapted to enable in-field fuel production supporting autonomous platforms and distributed operations.
IMPACT
If this problem were solved, it would enable autonomous platforms to locally produce alternative fuels in the field, eliminating reliance on vulnerable JP-8 convoys and reducing the exposure of human personnel to contested logistics. This capability would allow unmanned systems to operate at greater range, with extended endurance, and with reduced logistical risk.
08. Weapons Without Wait: US Navy
CHALLENGE
Operational Warfighters need a faster, more flexible way to retool and scale defense manufacturing capacity in order to replenish critical munitions and weapon systems at the pace required by sustained, high-intensity conflicts.
RELEVANT CONTEXT
- The U.S. defense industrial base has gradually evolved around efficiency and steady-state production rather than surge capacity, leaving it poorly suited for prolonged, high-intensity conflicts where demand can spike rapidly and unpredictably.
- Modern conflicts have demonstrated that munitions and platforms can be expended far faster than they can be replenished, exposing a mismatch between operational tempo and industrial production timelines.
- Manufacturing infrastructure across the defense sector is largely optimized for single-purpose production lines, making rapid shifts between different weapon systems or components slow, costly, and operationally risky.
- Retooling factories to produce different munitions or platforms often requires new tooling, certifications, safety approvals, workforce retraining, and facility modifications, which can take multiple years even when urgency is high.
- Defense contractors typically size their production capacity to existing contracts, not worst-case conflict scenarios, resulting in limited excess capacity available when demand suddenly increases.
- The government acquisition and budgeting process historically reinforces this rigidity, as funding decisions and production forecasts are made years in advance and are difficult to adjust quickly once conflict conditions change.
- Recent operations have highlighted how the U.S. can be forced to use high-end, expensive munitions to counter lower-cost threats, accelerating depletion rates and stressing already limited production pipelines.
- Industrial base challenges are compounded by workforce constraints, including shortages of skilled labor, aging manufacturing expertise, and limited cross-training that would allow workers to shift between different production lines.
- Communication gaps between government and industry further exacerbate delays, as industry is often brought in late, after requirements are largely defined, limiting opportunities to design production flexibility into systems from the outset.
- Long-standing acquisition culture has discouraged early engagement with industry due to concerns over fairness and compliance, unintentionally reducing shared understanding of risk, timelines, and manufacturing constraints.
- Defense manufacturing adoption of advanced technologies such as automation, AI-enabled production planning, and additive manufacturing has been uneven, slowed by certification hurdles and risk aversion rather than technical infeasibility.
- New manufacturing processes approved in one military service often require redundant approval processes in others, preventing rapid scaling across the Department of Defense and fragmenting industrial efforts.
- The lack of consistent, predictable demand signals from the government makes it difficult for industry to justify long-term investments in flexible or expandable production infrastructure.
- When conflicts arise, the combined effect of rigid factories, slow funding mechanisms, limited workforce flexibility, and fragmented approvals shifts risk downstream to operational units.
- As a result, warfighters are forced to adapt tactics and accept operational risk based on supply limitations rather than strategic or tactical preference.
IMPACT
If this problem were solved, it would enable the U.S. defense industrial base to rapidly adapt and scale production so the Navy and joint force could replenish depleted munitions in months rather than years, reducing operational risk to warfighters during sustained or rapidly evolving conflicts.
09. Cheese on the Moon: NASA
CHALLENGE
The high ground of the Moon, and the Martian frontier contain minerals for an industrial and spacefaring future evolving from NASA’s Artemis Program. Volatiles to fuel a spacefaring fleet and sustain human life, and exotic isotopes like He-3 are resources that could help build a thriving offworld economy. The space and mining communities need concepts of operation to detect, assess and access strategic mineral deposits, starting from orbit and descending to outcrop scale. This challenge will engage you with these two communities to help develop the concepts of operation needed to prioritize landing sites, reduce exploration risk, and enable sustained human and commercial presence on the Moon and Mars.
RELEVANT CONTEXT
- Highly concentrated mineral resources are rare and typically buried, formed by uncommon geological processes that elevate specific elements far above background levels. Most planetary surfaces contain only trace amounts of useful materials.
- On Earth, these deposits were discovered slowly through trial-and-error exploration driven by surface access, sampling, and drilling—not systematic, planet-scale sensing or predictive models. Discovery was largely opportunistic rather than designed.
- Off-world environments lack the infrastructure and subsurface access that enabled terrestrial exploration. The subsurface remains largely invisible, and most sensors detect only indirect indicators of mineralization.
- Indirect detection introduces high uncertainty. Signals are ambiguous and must be interpreted probabilistically, increasing the risk of false positives or missed deposits—especially with sparse data.
- Although broad geologic frameworks exist for the Moon and Mars, detailed understanding of mineral-forming processes and subsurface structure remains limited. Most missions prioritized science over systematic resource evaluation.
- There is no historical precedent or baseline for off-world resource discovery, making assumptions about abundance, detectability, or accessibility unreliable.
- As a result, off-world mineral exploration remains a fundamentally high-uncertainty problem rooted in limited context, indirect observability, and the absence of mature discovery frameworks.
IMPACT
If this problem were solved, it would help prioritize government and industry funding technology gaps to detect, assess and access resource-rich regions on the Moon and Mars. Improved capability will reduce the risk of offworld mineral exploration by prioritizing landing sites for resource detection and assessment, part of the way we ignite an offworld economy and a spacefaring future.