DARPA seeks industry ideas for 'Deep Green'

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is seeking industry proposals for a new program aimed at improving the quality and speed of decision-making for commanders on the battlefield.

Dubbed "Deep Green," the project will use information technology to build what agency officials call a battle command decision support system, according to a July 16 solicitation posted on DARPA's Web site.

Deep Green will allow commanders to "think ahead, identify when a plan is going awry, and help develop alternatives ahead of real time," the solicitation reads. "Deep Green will ensure that the commander rarely reaches a point on the operation at which he has no options."

The project includes six modules, or tasks. Under the "Commander's Associate" module, for example, DARPA is looking for technologies to interpret a commander's battle plans from free-hand sketches and speech.

Another module, dubbed "Blitzkrieg," takes these plans and quickly computes possible effects a commander's planned actions likely will have. The module "Crystal Ball" then combines these effects with information from ongoing operations, rating the possible outcomes in terms of utility and flexibility, DARPA said.

The agency plans to hold an industry day on Deep Green on July 23, according to the solicitation.

Sebastian Sprenger writes for Federal Computer Week, an 1105 Government Information Group publication.