Left-of-Launch Early Warning via AI-Enabled Anticipatory Tipping and Queuing

The rapid military modernization efforts of adversaries, particularly the People’s Republic of China, necessitate significant advancements in the U.S. Air Force’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to maintain strategic superiority and ensure national security. Lovelace AI proposes the Phase I SBIR project, “Left-of-Launch Early Warning via AI-Enabled Anticipatory Tipping and Cueing,” aimed at conducting a feasibility study and developing an initial SBIR-adapted product definition and requirements. This project seeks to automate the collection management process, specifically focusing on the tipping and cueing of high-value maritime entities within a multimodal sensor environment, thereby aligning with AFRL’s MAINSAIL Program and demonstrating the potential to enhance maritime domain awareness. Our existing product, Elemental, currently at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7, employs advanced data fusion techniques by integrating multimodal sensor inputs such as Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, and commercial adtech. Utilizing hybrid Bayesian inference and generative models, Elemental processes and fuses billions of data points in near real-time, delivering predictive analytics that enhance situational awareness and decision-making for tracking high-value maritime entities, including “dark vessels” that evade traditional detection methods. This research proposal aligns with AFRL’s MAINSAIL project and addresses critical technological challenges, including sparse observation tracking, contextual reasoning, automated sensor tasking, and rapid multimodal data fusion. By overcoming these hurdles, Elemental aims to improve the Air Force’s ISR capabilities, enabling more accurate and timely tracking of maritime targets. Lovelace AI is supported by $7M in venture capital and led by CEO Andrew Moore, former Dean of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon and leader of the AI Division at Google Cloud. Our team comprises seasoned hyperscaler engineers, machine learning scientists, and defense veterans, equipping Lovelace AI to deliver impactful ISR solutions. Elemental has demonstrated operational success at the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) 613th Air Operations Center during Valiant Shield 2024 and is actively participating in the US Space Force TacSRT Initiative to track objects using commercial data, as well as the NSIN Propel Hawaii 2024 accelerator, focused on the Air Operations Center of the future. This proposal aims to establish the foundational requirements and demonstrate the feasibility of integrating Elemental into existing Air Force systems, ultimately contributing to Programs of Record such as the Command, Control, and Battle Management (C3BM) system and the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) initiative. The anticipated outcomes include enhanced situational awareness, improved target prioritization, and sustained custody of high-value maritime targets.