BAE Systems awarded DARPA ACK contract

BAE Systems has been selected by DARPA to develop software that will enable semi-autonomous multi-domain mission planning, the company announced on 3 December.

DARPA is seeking technology that enables military operators to leverage battlespace resources from across various domains, such as space, air, land and sea, for more effective, efficient missions under its Adapting Cross-Domain Kill-Webs programme.

BAE Systems’ FAST Labs research and development organisation will work with teammate Carnegie Mellon University to create software called Multi-domain Adaptive Request Service (MARS). 

MARS aims to help operators make informed decisions by automatically identifying available capabilities across domains, and then rapidly assessing the costs and benefits to use those capabilities when adjusting mission tasks. The software also includes a visual interface that will allow the exploration of available asset options, helping operators arrive at the best course of action to deliver the desired effect on targets.

Chris Eisenbies, product line director of the Autonomy, Controls, and Estimation group at BAE Systems, said: ‘Multi-domain mission planning is complex because it involves a tremendous amount of distributed variables such as domains, systems, resources, and manned and unmanned platforms.

‘Our hope is that MARS will provide warfighters with the ability to automatically leverage the resources they need and quickly determine the most effective way to accomplish their mission no matter what type of battlespace they are operating in.’