RFI: HAF/A5 Advanced Wargaming and Simulation Technologies for Integrated Force Design

UPDATE 14 April 2026

The purpose of this update is to update industry on the status of this requirement. At this time, the DAF does not intend to release an RFP for this effort. When/if this changes the Government will provide industry an update on this forum.

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REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

HAF/A5 Advanced Wargaming and Simulation Technologies for Integrated Force Design (WarMatrix Ecosystem)

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF NEED

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Government is not seeking proposals at this time and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Vendors are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP that may be issued.

The Department of the Air Force (DAF), Headquarters U.S. Air Force (HAF), A5/7, is conducting market research to identify U.S. vendors capable of providing advanced software, modeling and simulation (M&S), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies relevant to the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Wargaming initiative. The Air Force requires a transformed, future-ready system to achieve Decision Superiority and deliver an integrated Force Design.

This initiative marks a revolutionary shift from traditional, analog methods to a fully digitized and scientific approach. The goal is to develop a system that provides a winning force design and helps close gaps in future campaigns. Currently, the DAF faces challenges including the inability to answer critical questions about capabilities, Courses of Action (COA) analysis, or costing, due to a reliance on disconnected, outdated, and vendor-locked tools.

We seek innovative solutions to build a digital sandbox capable of producing decision quality data at speed and scale.

SECTION 2: REQUIRED CAPABILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS

The Air Force is soliciting information regarding vendor capabilities across the following critical technology and function areas. Solutions must be designed to enhance Optimized Learning Through Human-Machine Teaming.

2.1 Simulation Acceleration and Core Architecture

We require solutions that address the need for scale, fidelity, and speed within a unified environment:

• Simulation Acceleration: Technologies capable of delivering simulations at Super Real-Time speeds, ideally accelerating simulation processes up to 10,000x real-time. This acceleration must support rapid campaign optimization and sensitivity analysis.
• Wargaming and Simulation Integration Hub: Solutions must function as a modular, cloud-based, multi-domain application that acts as an integration hub for digital wargaming. It must integrate with or function similarly to existing service-approved tools such as AFSIM, NGTS, and JICM, using modular APIs for transparency and repeatability.
• Scalability and Security: The system must be scalable to hundreds of users and tens of thousands of entities, and must be built to operate across classification levels (Unclassified, Secret, TS/SCI/SAP).
• Intuitive User Interface (WarEngine Concept): Solutions should provide an intuitive, single interface for planners, transforming the high barriers to entry and making the DoD’s simulation arsenal accessible to every Airman.

2.2 Advanced Modeling and Adjudication

We require modeling methodologies that embrace the chaos and complexity of war:

• Complex Adaptive System Modeling: Technologies must simulate war as a complex adaptive system. We seek event-driven agent-based simulation across all domains, where every entity is represented as an autonomous agent that reacts to real-time events.
• Friction and Secondary Effects: Modeling must facilitate the propagation of secondary effects across the integrated environment, such as how jamming, cyber activities, or malware degrades awareness, delays orders, or chokes logistics flows.
• Adjudication Modes: Solutions must support both Human-in-the-loop (for observing cognitive friction and improvisation) and Human-on-the-loop (for scalable abstraction and broad exploration) adjudication modes, with full audit logging and override capability.
• Physics-Based Validation: The system must leverage physics-based adjudication using existing service-approved tools to provide authoritative assessments of engagements and logistical effects.

2.3 AI-Driven Decision Support and Planning

We are specifically seeking modular AI tools to enhance the learning environment and support Human-Machine Teaming:

• AI Agent Teaming and Opposition: Technologies that use reinforcement learning to build AI agents capable of simulating realistic adversary behavior. These agents must support player vs. AI, team vs. AI, and AI vs. AI gameplay modes.
• AI-Assisted COA Development: AI tools must assist planners in rapidly generating, evaluating, and refining Courses of Action, utilizing a neuro-symbolic process to rank options with risk assessments and resource tradeoffs.
• Decision Support (Quantum Module Concept): Capabilities to facilitate Human-machine teaming by pausing the simulation at key inflection points and presenting outcome fields, risk corridors, and visual clusters generated from millions of possible branches for commander review.
• AI for Tasking Order (ITO) Generation: Technologies that integrate Large Language Models (LLMs) to assist in building Integrated Tasking Orders (ITOs) by extracting and formatting relevant data from selected COAs according to joint standards.
• AI for Qualitative Analysis: LLMs capable of facilitating real-time transcription and diarization of qualitative data (e.g., commander discussions) to enable rapid analysis during and after events.

2.4 Analytical and Force Design Support

The solutions must empower force design and refine resource allocation:

• Virtual Sandbox for Capability and Concept Development: Solutions must enable the swift exploration of new concepts and iterative analysis to produce tightly integrated capabilities. This includes supporting model-based comparisons of emerging capabilities before deployment.
• Trade Space Analysis: Tools that synchronize with emerging costing models to allow for rapid tradespace analysis and modeling cost-versus-risk across thousands of scenarios.
• Logistics Integration: Capabilities to seamlessly integrate operational and logistics models, supporting deep exploration of sustainment planning, resource adequacy, and Time Phased Force Deployment Data (TPFDD) feasibility.

SECTION 3: SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Vendors are requested to submit a capability brief outlining their relevant technologies, experience, and ability to meet the requirements listed above. Submissions should specifically address the following:

1.  Describe how your proposed technology addresses the current shortcomings (disconnected tools, lack of speed/scale, limited realism) outlined above.

2.  Provide examples or prototypes demonstrating the use of AI/Reinforcement Learning for adaptive opposition or AI-assisted COA generation.

3.  Detail the architecture's approach to scalability, cloud-native deployment, and integration with existing government-owned M&S tools (e.g., AFSIM, NGTS).

4. Provide administrative information including the following as a minimum:

• • Name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail of designated point of contact.
  • Identify the respondent’s CAGE code and UEI number.
  • Proprietary information must be clearly marked as such.
  • RFI Number
  • Small Business/Socio-Economic status of respondent, if any, (i.e. small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a) small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, woman-owned small business, and economically-disadvantaged women-owned small business).
  • Please list any existing contract vehicles you hold, i.e. NASA SEWP, OASIS+, MAS.

5. Capability briefs should be submitted in Microsoft Word compatible format or Adobe PDF and are due no later than Friday 9 Jan 2026, 2:00pm EST. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

Capability statements should be submitted via email to Capt Richard Snyder at richard.snyder.12@us.af.mil. Any submissions over 10mb must be sent via DOD SAFE, additionally regardless of the file size if you’d prefer to submit over DOD SAFE please request a DOD SAFE link from the POC above.