The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA’s) Strategic Technology Office has issued a solicitation (DARPA-PS-25-06) for its Killisti Program, which “…seeks to develop an algorithmic theory of mind to model adversaries’ situational awareness and predict future behavior…” according to the solicitation. This includes assessing an adversary’s “…risk and reward structures and the strategies an adversary uses to attempt to project future states that achieve desired end states.”
The Kallisti effort “seeks to combine algorithms with human expertise to explore, in a modeling and simulation environment, potential courses of action in national security scenarios with far greater breadth and efficiency than is currently possible, enabling deterrence and compellence.” One of the key aspects of modern warfare is the competition in the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS). The People’s Republic of China, for example, plans to challenge the ability of US forces to operate in the EMS by jamming datalinks, satellite navigation and weapons sensors, as well as conducting offensive cyber operations to attack the kill web of US forces. It’s not clear from the solicitation if the Kallisti effort will seek to perform modeling and simulation of adversary situational awareness and behavior in the EMS. A Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) addendum contains more details about the program.
The solicitation explains that Kallisti is “structured as a 30-month single-phase program organized into three “sprints” of 12 months, six months, and 12 months. DARPA anticipates selecting multiple performers. Performers must reach the goals and metrics of a Sprint to move to the next Sprint.”
The solicitation coordinator can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected]. Proposals are due by April 14. – J. Knowles
