Capability · Military AI and autonomy

AI decision support

Models and software that help commanders and analysts plan, assess and decide.

Limited fieldingPart of Military AI and autonomy

Input links

Here and in 1 below

Assessment

Case for · why it matters

Planning still relies on decades-old methods that cannot keep pace with modern war, so DoD is prototyping AI that generates courses of action and runs wargames (DIU's Thunderforge with INDOPACOM and EUCOM). Startups such as Smack are winning prototype contracts with fires and Marine Corps programs on the same premise.

Case against · the skeptic’s view

Research on off-the-shelf language models in simulated wargames found escalatory, hard-to-predict behaviour, including arms-race dynamics and rare nuclear use, and its authors urge caution before using such agents for strategic decisions. Reporting on Maven also notes the Pentagon's deployment plans and expanded user base remain opaque.

Who builds it2

Fielded1
- Palantir TechnologiesDeveloper
Limited fielding0
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Prototype1
- Smack TechnologiesDeveloper
Development0
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Research0
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Concept0
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Sort

Organizations working on this technology. Select a sortable column heading to sort.
				Conf.
Palantir TechnologiesUS	Prime	Developer	Fielded	Reported
Smack TechnologiesUS	Startup	Developer	Prototype	Reported

Placed by each organization's own maturity for this technology; TRL is self-reported or estimated, see confidence.

Breakdown1

AI course-of-action generation and wargamingModels (reinforcement learning, large language models, simulation) that generate and test courses of action for operational and fires planning.Prototype2 orgs · 1 prod.

Products3

Alpha

Smack Technologies

Edge decision platform pairing Smack's models with proprietary hardware for frontline units and autonomous platforms in DDIL conditions; hardware funded by the 2026 Series B.

Development

Maven Smart System

Palantir Technologies

Palantir-built AI-enabled software used by U.S. combatant commands for targeting and command and control under the Maven program.

Fielded

Photo: U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Whitney Hughes · Public domain (PD-USGov-Military-Army)

Omega

Smack Technologies

Smack's command-level decision platform: reinforcement-learning and computer-vision models for campaign and fires planning, course-of-action generation and plan repair.

Prototype

Sources4

Profile2

1
Government recordThunderforge Project: Integrating Commercial AI-Powered Decision-Making
Defense Innovation Unit · Mar 5, 2025 · Supports Technology
“Today's military planning processes rely on decades-old technology and methodologies, creating a fundamental mismatch between the speed of modern warfare and our ability to respond”
2
ResearchEscalation Risks from Language Models in Military and Diplomatic Decision-Making
Stanford CISAC · Jan 7, 2024 · Supports Technology
“We find that all five studied off-the-shelf LLMs show forms of escalation and difficult-to-predict escalation patterns.”

Technologies2

3
News'Growing demand' sparks DOD to raise Palantir's Maven contract to more than $1B
DefenseScoop · May 23, 2025 · Supports Organization technology, Technology
“the AI-powered Maven Smart System”
4
OtherBlack Flag 100.2
Black Flag · Supports Organization technology
“Smack Technologies builds domain-specific AI models that fuse multimodal data in real time for automated defense decision making.”

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