SOFWERX and ICWERX, in collaboration with USSOCOM’s Directorate of Science and Technology (S&T) and the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) Directorate of Science & Technology (DS&T), will host the seventeenth Rapid Capability Assessment event (RCA17) 20-24 April, 2026, in Chantilly, VA, with the theme “Field-Forward Operations – Future Challenges for SOF and the IC in Data Dense Environments.”
Field-forward operations refer to the real-time or near real-time collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence information in the field or at the source to support mission planning and tactical decision making. These activities rely on advanced technologies, including diverse sensors, smart systems, distributed networks, communication platforms, and AI-driven analytical suites. While these technologies offer significant advantages by providing actionable insights in real-time, they also introduce vulnerabilities (e.g., data reliability and accuracy, cybersecurity, processing speed, and energy efficiency). Addressing these vulnerabilities is crucial for maximizing the potential of these technologies while minimizing risks, thereby enabling mission success.
To address these challenges, SOF & the CIA will need to:
- Develop a vision for the future challenges posed by data dense intelligence operations
- Identify and understand risks, vulnerabilities, and adversarial actions that threaten these operations and take appropriate measures with partners and allies at machine speed
- Develop plans and policies to enable operational advantage in global field environments and exploit dual-use capabilities
- Identify, recruit, and train for the skillsets required to conduct future interagency field-forward operations
Participants will also have the opportunity to provide input to other teams who are working in other focus areas:
- Advanced Analytics: Explores how Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)-like systems and Mixture of Experts models can assist with intelligence analysis, with a focus on ethical and secure deployment.
- Mapping Building Infrastructure: Investigates conventional and unconventional methods of integration with intelligent building systems such as lighting, fire suppression, and HVAC.
- Novel Energy Sources: Focuses on efficiently generating, storing, and managing power in low-profile installations, including heat mitigation techniques for confined or off-grid environments.
- Data Communications/Exfiltration: This focus area has two prongs: one focuses on globally dispersed, low-power edge sensors that can operate independently while triggering more complex systems through tipping and cueing; the second explores secure, high-throughput, and low-signature data transmission in both fixed and mobile environments.
- Edge Device Optimization: Focuses on maximizing processing efficiency of globally dispersed, low-power edge sensors that can operate independently while triggering more complex systems through alerting, tipping, and ranging.
The outputs from the event include:
- A subsystem-level architectural breakdown of the capabilities developed during the event
- Identified risks, constraints, policies, regulations, etc., impacting the capability
- Analysis of the ways and means through which the capability may achieve desired effects
- Initial market research of potential technology performers with appropriate expertise
- A technology development roadmap to identify potential paths forward to implementation
USSOCOM S&T has developed and refined a unique process, the Innovation Cycle, to engage technology pioneers and leaders to discover and develop high risk, innovative, and disruptive concepts, capabilities, and technologies for future on-boarding.
A predecessor event, Innovation Foundry 17 (IF17), was the first phase of the Innovation Cycle and was focused on idea generation. RCA17 will build upon this foundation by bringing together experts from industry, academia, and national laboratories, to collaborate with Special Operations Forces (SOF) and CIA personnel to decompose the IF17 outputs through facilitated exercises using systems engineering frameworks.
For more information, visit events.sofwerx.org/rca17.
Submit NLT 26 February 11:59 PM ET
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