The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) agencies and each of the Military Departments (MILDEPs) regularly pursue technological innovations to support the U.S. warfighting mission and improve enterprise operations. Increasingly, this includes accelerated efforts to develop, assess and deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) empowered capabilities. The Department of the Air Force (DAF) is among the DOD components pursuing AI for greater integrated joint operations and to gain operational advantages across multiple areas.

Current Air Force AI Efforts and Initiatives

Following the Air Force’s IT-related actions and policy development, and exploring the Air Force’s FY 2026 budget request, here are a few examples of the DAF’s ongoing AI-related efforts:

• CIO Strategy: The Air Force’s CIO Public Strategy for FY 2023 – FY 2028 set plans to operationalize data and AI capabilities for greater effectiveness. The 2025 DAF CIO Objectives for Strategic LOEs include publishing an FY 2026 DAF Data and AI Strategic Action Plan that outlines their strategic approach to leveraging data and AI (and an update for FY 2027). Another 2025 objective is to drive DAF AI governance and approval processes into a data tracking system and dashboard to report on compliance with AI and data policy.
• AI Center of Excellence: The Air Force is establishing a new AI COE aimed at accelerating the adoption of AI-enabled capabilities and ensure efforts are coordinated and mission-driven. Building on current partnerships, including with MIT for an AI accelerator and the DAF-Stanford AI Studio for automation, officials expect the new COE to reach initial operating capability by the end of 2025 and achieve full operational capability by mid-2026.
• Battlefield Decisions: The 805th Combat Training Squadron is experimenting with the DAF’s Transformational Model for Decision Advantage methodology, which breaks down battle management Command and Control (C2) and targeting functions into 52 distinct subfunctions, to find ways for AI to improve battle space decision making. The Air Force hopes the model will lead to multiple AI microservices built for each subfunction to aid in developing a DAF Battle Network in support of the DOD’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) efforts.
• Airlift Effectiveness: The Air Mobility Command’s Next-Generation Information Technology for Mobility Readiness Enhancement (NITMRE) project builds AI software that enables C-130 transport crews to stay ahead of rapidly changing battlespace conditions by sifting through group chats, documents, and other sources to direct airmen on how to report and document information up and down the chain of command to increase effectiveness and reduce mission risk.
• Cyber Defense: The Air Force deploys AI tools on their IT networks and in Security Operations Centers (SOCs) to counter data overload on cybersecurity teams. The 67th Cyberspace Wing uses AI to analyze cyber data feeds and provide quick insights and reduce false positives. The wing has also been using NIPRGPT, an experimental generative AI chatbot developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), on the DOD’s unclassified global network to consolidate numerous data sources and summarize large volumes of information.

Additional DAF AI efforts range from leveraging the technology for enterprise IT modernization to experimenting with AI agents piloting aircraft.

Pursuing Air Force AI Efforts

The Air Force’s evolving AI strategy will continue to drive various research and development (R&D) efforts across the service. Interested contractors should explore the Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) portion of the Air Force’s FY 2026 budget for details. Further, the Air Force Research Laboratory hosts many of these AI efforts. (See AFRL.com as well.) Small businesses also may find potential AI-related opportunities through the Air Force Small Business office.

---

For more information on Air Force and other federal AI-related policy, acquisition and technology initiatives driving Deltek’s federal AI market forecast, see our report, Federal Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market, 2026-2028.