Air Force Studies and Analysis Agency

An enterprise digital platform providing common, reusable and interoperable enterprise funded modeling, simulation and analysis (MS&A) software tools, data and High Performance Computer resources for 40,000 DoD, Intelligence Community, academic, industry and coalition partner users collectively conducting operations, acquisition, test, training, and other functions at all classification levels. Funding builds upon FY24 prototype through enhancements and integration with other existing platforms into a larger Joint MS&A solution for effective and affordable information sharing. Development priorities are identified and prioritized by a Joint governance structure.

Delivers a government-owned simulation framework to conduct medium-fidelity / operational level live-virtual-constructive modeling, simulation, and analytic assessments of warfighting capabilities, strategies, concepts of operation, tactics, emerging technologies, and human system interfaces in the context of multi-domain military conflicts. AFSIM is the operational simulation tool of choice of 40,000 users/400 organization across the DoD, Intelligence Community, Joint, academic, industry and coalition partners (United Kingdom, Australia, Japan) informing development/modernization investment decisions on nearly every major USAF and USSF weapon system (Sentinel, B-21, F-35, F-22, Next-Generation Air Dominance, Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Low-Cost Cruise Missile, etc).

The DoD's analytic tool of choice for campaign level, constructive MS&A assessments of highly-contested military scenarios to understand strategic impacts of modernization and development of new military capabilities, science and technology investment tradeoffs, concepts of operations, and procurement quantities providing analytically driven insights on DoD military lethality and agility, Future Force Design, Airbase Defense, Missile Defense, Space Force structure, nuclear modernization, agile combat support, etc informing essentially every major DAF weapon platform modernization/development investment decision made by the SecAF, CSO and CSAF. STORM is also used by industry and coalition partners (South Korea, Türkiye, United Kingdom, Taiwan). SAF/SA executes STORM development activities and capabilities identified and prioritized by an OSD led Joint governance structure.

A prototype simulation tool developed to tactically assess agile combat support concepts in a highly-contested threat environment for analytics directly informed/informing 2024 OSD Protraction Strategic Portfolio Review, Future Force Design and Agile Combat Employment Concept of Operations efforts. Analytical insights to airbase combat sortie production are provided through multiple factors including runway/taxiway/parking area damage-repair capacity, aircraft ground attrition, fuel availability and transport, and airbase defense tradeoffs.

The Synthetic Theater Operations Research Model (STORM) has served as the campaign-level tool of choice for the Joint community informing service-level investment and COCOM operational planning decisions for over 20 years, but its software architecture is increasingly challenging to effectively model space, cyber, and electromagnetic spectrum domains in current/future Joint force operations. OSD designated SAF/SA as the Joint Service Lead to develop a next-generation campaign tool and infrastructure for OSD-wide model software development analytical assessments. A STORM replacement capability is required to deliver analytical overmatch in National Security Strategy, aligned to Golden Dome, future force designs, Long-Range Kill Chain, Homeland Defense, Space Orbital Warfare, and war-winning operational planning.