- On the battlefield, the Air Force is deploying AI across combat operations — from autonomous CCA operating alongside manned fighters to AI-generated battle management courses of action
- Across enterprise operations, the Air Force is applying AI to cybersecurity, logistics, and workforce management
- The Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Air and Space Summit will host a panel on deploying AI securely on the battlefield
Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in Air Force operations. The technology is no longer an experimental add-on but has become core to how the service develops new capabilities for warfighters.
In the increasingly high-tech battlefield, the Air Force is betting on AI to make sure that airmen maintain air superiority across domains. At the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Air and Space Summit on July 30, military and industry leaders will convene on the From Data to Decision: Advancing Multi-Level Security with AI/ML for the Modern Warfighter panel to discuss how the Air Force is deploying AI to secure an advantage on the modern battlefield. Secure your ticket today!
How Is the Air Force Applying AI Across Its Operations?
Autonomous Aircraft
The Air Force is building a fleet of autonomous platforms called the collaborative combat aircraft, or CCA, to operate alongside manned fighter jets in contested airspace. The technology is expected to perform a range of missions, including air-to-air and air-to-ground combat, targeting, electronic warfare, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
According to the Air Force, the AI software of the CCA will enable human pilots to manage multiple aircraft.
In its fiscal 2027 budget request, the Department of War wants nearly $1 billion to buy CCAs. Anduril Industries and General Atomics secured contracts in June to build CCAs for the Air Force.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, a 2026 Wash100 winner, shared in a press release that the service intends to acquire “over 150 combat capable CCA by the end of the decade.”
Battle Management
AI offers the potential to speed up and enhance the process of decision-making by delivering multiple courses of action for the commander to choose from.
In the Decision Advantage Sprint for Human-Machine Teaming, or DASH, experiments held in 2025, the Air Force utilized industry-developed AI to produce recommended solutions for various battlefield scenarios. The service said two vendor-produced AI systems delivered over 6,000 solutions for 20 problems within one hour.
“This level of output gives commanders options to execute multiple kill chains simultaneously and we’re excited about our next experiment to generate the courses of action with the machines to help illuminate risk, opportunity gain/loss, material gain/loss, among others,” Air Force Col. John Ohlund, director of Advanced Battle Management System Cross-Functional Team, stated.
Ohlund is a panelist at the 2026 Air and Space Summit on July 30. Gain a better understanding of how AI is helping the Air Force secure a decision-advantage from Ohlund and other defense leaders. Register here to join.
Zero Trust Implementation
Cybersecurity has evolved into a pivotal area of operations where AI can play a transformative role.
General Dynamics Information Technology is providing its Everest Zero Trust Digital Accelerator, an AI-enabled cybersecurity tool, to 187 Air Force bases to secure military data and detect threats. The company secured a $120 million task order in January for the technology, which is designed to protect information at every classification level.
The Air Force also awarded World Wide Technology a $40 million contract to build an AI-enabled Security Operations Center, or SOC, Defence Blog reported. An SOC monitors networks and identifies cyber intrusions.
The Air Force has been looking into integrating AI into SOC since at least last year. During a May 2025 conference that Air and Space Forces Magazine covered, Col. John W. Picklesimer, commander of the 67th Cyberspace Wing, said AI is helping counter data overload among airmen. The technology, he added, can pull feeds and analyze data to deliver quick insights and identify significant threats that personnel can take a closer look at.
Predictive Logistics and Maintenance
The Air Force is bolstering readiness by integrating AI into logistics and maintenance of critical systems.
Munitions teams within the Air Force Global Strike Command are using an AI-powered app called the Automated Master Storage Planning, or A-MSP. Developed by Virtualitics, the app was designed to help personnel organize munitions storage.
“There are specific munitions that need to be kept a certain distance from one another, and there are some that do have to be stored together,” Justin Shehane, a retired Air Force senior master sergeant and current solutions leader at Virtualitics, told Air and Space Forces Magazine. “So there are many, many governing guidelines and safety constraints that we absolutely have to adhere to.”
According to Virtualitics, A-MSP cuts the process of planning munitions storage from weeks to minutes. The app’s AI will take a base’s structures and munition storage requirements and then automatically generate a plan for the most efficient use of available space.
The Air Force also tapped C3 AI for the deployment of its Predictive Analytics and Decision Assistant, or PANDA, platform, which monitors aircraft components. The company secured a contract modification valued at $350 million in May 2025 for the expanded use of the platform.
“At the scale of the U.S. Air Force, this system has the potential to increase aircraft availability by up to 25 percent,” said Ed Abbo, chief technology officer for C3 AI.
Learn more about how the Air Force is modernizing logistics during Air Force Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection Anthony Baity’s afternoon keynote at the 2026 Air and Space Summit. Get your tickets here!
Promotion Board Screening and Ranking
The Air Force’s AI Action Team has identified promotion board screening and ranking as a possible use case for the technology.
Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David R. Wolfe revealed that AI can help the service better align people with responsibilities. At a recent event, he explained that the Air Force’s administrative and policy requirements to appoint people to positions have become “way too long of a list.”
“We don’t really do talent management in the Air Force; we do replacement management,” he shared via Military Times.
Wolfe clarified that the Air Force is not letting AI pick officers. Instead, the service is automating portions of the promotion boards process to support the human making the decision.
Who Are the Speakers of the 2026 Air and Space Summit AI Panel?
The From Data to Decision: Advancing Multi-Level Security with AI/ML for the Modern Warfighter panel at the 2026 Air and Space Summit on July 30 will feature speakers from the Department of War and the defense industry.
Ohlund will join the panel to share insights about the Air Force’s plan to use AI for battle management. Other speakers from the Pentagon include Steven Butow, senior adviser to the director of the Defense Innovation Unit; Joseph Fraier, senior industrial policy analyst for the Air Force; and Dr. Merrick Watchorn, chief cyber, quantum & cognitive information services architect.
Ilya Levtov, CEO of Craft, and Randy Fields, chief technology officer at Ultra I&C, will represent industry during the panel.
The panel will explore the uses of AI for threat analysis on the battlefield and address the challenge of maintaining data security while ensuring that warfighters have access to critical information. Sign up today to learn more about how the Air Force is deploying AI for warfighting.
