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TECHNOLOGY TRANSITION OFFICE

INTELLIGENT SERVICES ARCHITECTURE FOR POINT DEFENSE

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

29 APRIL 2026

1. NOTICE

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued for informational purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation nor commit the government to award a contract now or in the future.

Submitting information for this RFI is voluntary, and participants will not be compensated. Your response to this RFI will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or the Government’s use of such information. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the AF in developing its acquisition strategy, statement of work/statement of objectives, and performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained within their response as instructed later in this posting.

2. BACKGROUND

Point Defense is rooted in the strategic priority of advancing Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-sUAS) and Counter-UAS capabilities, directly supporting Air Base Air Defense (ABAD) and broader USAF Force Design Mission Areas. Addressing these advancements involves critical Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) technology priorities, including autonomy, automation, and both non-kinetic and kinetic effects against Group 1-3 UAS. The foundational military utility for Point Defense lies in delivering an adaptable, intelligent, autonomy-enabled, standalone or connected capability that integrates with existing ABAD architectures, providing agnostic services that can be configured based on the specific Area of Responsibility (AOR), location, critical assets, expected threat picture, Rules of Engagement (ROEs), defense plan and force protection requirements.

3. SCOPE

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Technology Transition Office (TTO), Wright- Patterson AFB, OH, is conducting market research to identify potential sources that can transform the Point Defense kill chain by developing or providing intelligent and autonomous services to defeat swarm and complex UAS scenarios through comprehensive ABAD coordination. Advancement of Point Defense capabilities involves Government Reference Architecture (GRA) maturation and the integration of intelligent autonomy and AI-driven analysis procedures to enhance contextual air picture awareness, deconfliction, and rapid decision-making. The ultimate objective is to enable the intelligent deployment of effects, optimized in real-time based on the air picture, available resources, ROEs, cost-per-kill, ideal weapon-threat pairing, and precise timing to maximize defensive effectiveness. Development of sensors, effectors, and/or countermeasures is not within scope of this RFI.

4. RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

AFRL TTO is seeking information on architectural frameworks and advanced software solutions, from Government Reference Architectures (GRAs) to intelligent AI agents, that contribute to or enable an autonomous and adaptable Point Defense kill chain capability against swarm and complex UAS threats. Specifically, this RFI expects focused responses based on industry experience, lessons learned, and technical approaches regarding GRAs and autonomy & AI data standards for multimodal sensing, optimal weapon-threat pairing, and overall kill chain automation. Furthermore, information is sought on intelligent and AI-enabled services capable of analyzing complex sensor feeds, recommending decisions, and managing defensive resources in highly automated ways to support comprehensive and rapid ABAD coordination. This market research will inform current and future Air Force efforts to address current Point Defense sensor, effector, and C2 capability gaps, mature GRA adoption, and explore integrated solutions in this problem space.

Respondents are required to provide specific and to-the-point information relevant to the following technical areas and specific requirements:

4.a - Government Reference Architectures (GRA) for Point Defense Focus Area: Analysis of multimodal sensing, weapon-threat pairing, and general kill chain automation.

4.a.1 - Past Experience and Lessons Learned: Describe previous efforts and specific experience regarding the development, integration, and/or testing of Government Reference Architectures (GRAs) as they relate to Point Defense. Include concrete lessons learned from these efforts.

4.a.2 - Utilization of Standards: Identify the specific technical and data standards your organization has utilized in past Point Defense efforts. Provide an evaluation of how effective and useful these standards were when applied to the Point Defense problem set, as well as their effectiveness for integration of autonomy and/or AI.

4.a.3 - Identification and Mitigation of Limitations: Detail any critical shortcomings, capability gaps, or technical limitations you have identified within current GRAs or standards.

Furthermore, propose specific and sound technical approaches and methodologies to address and overcome these identified limitations.

4.b - Intelligent Services, Autonomy, and AI Agents Focus Area: Autonomy, analysis, decision support, resource management, and intelligent employment of effects.

4.b.1 - Capability in Automated Decision & Resource Management: Demonstrate your capability and past experience in developing intelligent services or AI agents that can successfully ingest and analyze complex, multimodal sensor feeds. Detail how these services leverage data to autonomously generate decisions and adaptively manage defensive resources in a highly contested and complex environment.

4.b.2 - Capability in Automated and Intelligent Employment of Effects: Demonstrate your capability and past experience in developing and implementing intelligent services and autonomy agents that can successfully manage, prioritize, and task effectors or systems under complex air picture and threat picture conditions. Detail how these services leverage data, make decisions, and employ effects to autonomously and simultaneously mitigate threats to limit adversary impact on defensive resources in a highly contested and complex environment.

4.b.3 - Integration with Specific Data Models: Detail your experience successfully deploying these intelligent services and AI agents using specific architectures, data standards, or data models. Explicitly list and describe the standards and models used in these successful implementations.

4.b.4 - Architectural Recommendations: Provide actionable recommendations regarding which specific GRAs, Data Standards, or Data Models are best suited to be adapted for this specific Point Defense problem set. Justify why these recommendations are optimal for this operational context.

Respondents must provide a response to every requirement and sub-question in this RFI to be considered responsive. If a specific requirement is not applicable to the respondent’s current capabilities, provide a brief explanation of the limitation or state Not Applicable (N/A). All responses must include tangible, existing capabilities or previously/actively funded development efforts. Submissions consisting of marketing 'fluff,' AI-generated capability forecasts, or purely theoretical concepts without empirical backing will NOT be considered.

For all responses to questions in 4.a and 4.b, respondents are required to categorize the current funding status (whether by the Government or by the company) of their development using the following: fully funded, partially funded, not funded.

5. RESPONSES, COMMUNICATION, AND ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:

a. The government may contact respondents to obtain additional information or clarification to fully understand a company’s response. This may include discussions, site visits, demonstrations, etc. to further the Government’s understanding of a proposed solution, as well as a company’s understanding of the Government’s requirements.

• Classified responses via SIPRNet and JWICS are welcome. All respondents must reply via the unclassified process noting that classified information will be sent on SIPRNet or JWICS, and provide senders’ classified-network contact information (e.g. name, email address, etc.).

• On SIPRNet please send the classified response appendix to matthew.a.zawisza.civ@mail.smil.mil

• On JWICS, please send the classified response appendix to matthew.zawisza@af.ic.gov and martin.ofalt@af.ic.gov and jacqueline.gomez.4@us.af.mil

b. The government is seeking knowledge on how best to utilize this investment and does not expect to spend more than $50-100M for the operational challenge stated within this RFI.

mailto:matthew.a.zawisza.civ@mail.smil.mil mailto:matthew.zawisza@af.ic.gov mailto:martin.ofalt@af.ic.gov mailto:jacqueline.gomez.4@us.af.mil

Provide a rough schedule and cost estimate (i.e. rough order of magnitude (ROM)) for any capabilities and/or tasks being submitted as outlined in paragraph 4 as an annual re-occurring cost for a 36-month effort, and the assumptions (manpower, materials, etc.)

driving contract costs.

c. Indicate whether the company is currently performing this type of work/whether the capability can be obtained under an existing Government contract. Provide the contract number(s) and Government points of contact accordingly.

d. Respondents shall limit submissions to 10 pages or less (including title pages and any addendums) and should include technical and descriptive text to provide sufficient detail on how they would satisfy the requirements outlined in Section 4. The submitted documentation becomes the property of the U.S. Government and will not be returned.

e. Respondents who submit proprietary data shall clearly mark the data with appropriate markings on the cover sheet and on each applicable page. Any proprietary data submitted may be handled by contract support services personnel who have signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA). Any proprietary information received in response to this request will be properly protected from any unauthorized disclosure. The Government will not use proprietary information submitted from any one firm to establish the capability and requirements for any future systems acquisition, to not inadvertently restrict competition.

Any material that is not marked proprietary will be considered publicly releasable.

f. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this RFI. A determination not to compete this action based on responses received is solely within the discretion of the Government.

g. Broad industry participation for this RFI is encouraged. U.S. and non-U.S. firms are permitted to respond to this RFI.

h. Please note that all prospective contractors must be registered in System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a Department of Defense contract. To learn more about this SAM requirement and how to register, please visit the SAM internet website at https://sam.gov/ .

i. Responses shall be accepted by e-mail of the paper submittal in either Microsoft Word or

Adobe PDF formats. Responses shall be received by 16:00 EST, 2 weeks after the posting of the RFI on the SAM website. For ALL responses to this RFI, please email Jacqueline Gomez and CC Matthew Zawisza and Martin Ofalt.

j. This notice may be updated as additional information becomes available. Please check the Sam.gov site for updates to this announcement. For more information on this RFI, please contact the points of contact identified below. E-mail communication is preferred.

Matthew Zawisza Acquisition Program Manager https://sam.gov/

AFRL/RFGD

matthew.zawisza@us.af.mil

Martin Ofalt Program Manager

AFRL/RFGD

martin.ofalt@us.af.mil

Jacqueline Gomez Acquisition Campaign Manager

AFRL/RRTE

jacqueline.gomez.4@us.af.mil mailto:matthew.zawisza@us.af.mil mailto:martin.ofalt@us.af.mil mailto:jacqueline.gomez.4@us.af.mil