Washington: The US Air Force wants a cloud-based, AI-powered “digital sandbox” as a hub to generate and run wargames at speeds of up 10,000 times faster than real time, according to a recent request for information.
The WarMatrix system aims to remedy some of the problems that have hampered defence wargaming for years, such as cumbersome, labour-intensive simulations.
“Currently, the DAF [Department of the Air Force] 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critical questions about capabilities, Courses of Action (COA) analysis, or costing, due to a reliance on disconnected, outdated, and vendor-locked tools,” according to the Air Force RFI, which was posted November 23.
“This initiative marks a revolutionary shift from traditional, analog methods to a fully digitised and scientific approach,” the Air Force proclaimed.
The hope is that AI players are realistic enough to facilitate the creation of multiple strategies during a wargaming exercise.
“WarMatrix is a toolkit and orchestration environment that enables rapid scenario creation and provides a common analytical workflow with human on the loop adjudication,” an Air Force spokesperson said.



