AF ISR Digital Infrastructure

The AF ISR Digital Infrastructure program, as outlined in Program Element (PE) 0303010F, is a new initiative within the Department of the Air Force (DAF) focused on advancing the digital infrastructure supporting Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations. The primary goal of this program is to provide secure, scalable, and resilient commercial cloud-based infrastructure, platform, and data services for handling Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and ISR data globally, including at the tactical edge. The infrastructure is designed to support artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications, enabling rapid development, deployment, and continuous updates of mission-critical software applications. This approach aims to accelerate the delivery of ISR capabilities, reduce total ownership costs, and enhance operational effectiveness, particularly in support of the Long Range Kill Chain.

Project 640018 focuses on engineering, security, and architectural investments to establish a fully managed, redundant, and secure development-security-operations (DevSecOps) environment. This environment will facilitate the rapid development and deployment of ISR mission applications, provide identity access management, and deliver secure commercial cloud services. The project also includes customer service and support for tenant organizations, which fund their usage of the platform. The acquisition strategy utilizes a competitive, multi-vendor contract approach with both cost-plus and fixed-price elements, engaging contractors such as CACI, Booz Allen Hamilton, Northrop Grumman, and ICR Inc.

SCI Cloud Services is a major thrust within the AF ISR Digital Infrastructure program. This component leverages Intelligence Community (IC)-governed commercial cloud enterprise capabilities to provide a robust foundation for agile ISR and command and control (C2) operations that require SCI data. The SCI Cloud Services effort ensures compliance with IC security, architecture, data safeguarding, and sharing requirements, and provides integrated defense to protect sensitive data. Plans for SCI Cloud Services focus on expanding engineering, security, and architectural expertise to maintain a secure and agile environment for ISR operations worldwide.

Cybersecurity Automation and Operations is another key objective of the program, aiming to automate and streamline cybersecurity processes within the ISR digital infrastructure. By integrating advanced cybersecurity automation, the program seeks to enhance the security posture of ISR cloud services, reduce manual intervention, and ensure rapid response to emerging cyber threats. This supports the DAF's broader goal of maintaining resilient and secure ISR operations in increasingly contested digital environments.

Project 640141, funded prior to the realignment of funds to Project 640018, focused on contractor engineering for security defense, platform, infrastructure, and DevSecOps engineering, in partnership with the AF ISR Digital Infrastructure. The ABMS Digital Infrastructure, executed under a separate program element, collaborates closely with AF ISR DI to ensure a consistent set of capabilities and customer experience across all classification levels. This coordination helps minimize duplication of effort and ensures compliance with Director of National Intelligence (DNI) requirements.

The AF ISR Digital Infrastructure program is justified by the need to support the evolving requirements of ISR operations, particularly as they relate to the secure handling and processing of SCI data in cloud environments. The program is also aligned with the broader DAF and Intelligence Community objectives to modernize digital infrastructure, leverage commercial cloud innovations, and enable rapid, secure, and scalable ISR capabilities. The funding supports intelligence support requirements for critical national defense missions and ensures that the Air Force remains compliant with all relevant security and data protection standards.