Disruption through Intelligent Strategies, Counter Options, and Resilient Defenses (DISCORD)
DARPA will fund 24-month R&D projects that develop AI-native, explainable simulation and decision-support methods for generating diverse tactical options from live sensor data and high-fidelity models for defense use.
⚑ DARPA solicitation with multiple performers anticipated · 24-month program split into two 12-month phases · controlled unclassified information (CUI) · federal contract notice; applicant restrictions are stated as federal contract terms rather than a grant program
This is a DARPA AI/decision-support program for tactical and operational defense simulation, which is only loosely adjacent to the team’s social-science work. Andrew Fox and Hank Jenkins-Smith have some national-security/threat-perception relevance, but the core methods here are computational control/simulation rather than the survey, trust, warning, or risk-communication research this team usually pursues.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-07-07
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 90 strong | technical depth: central; funds applied research |
| IPPRA | 58 good | portfolio topic: national_security_defense (primary); signature methods: policy analysis; social/behavioral work is minor; funds applied research |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 45 partial | funds applied research; prototyping/demonstration stage; deep-tech content |
Description
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative proposals that leverage: abstraction of physics based reduced order modeling, AI-driven simulation with edge compute, advances in online model-predictive control and online dynamics learning, recurrence quantification analysis, simulation with live sensor data, and game theory / theory of behavior. The Disruption through Intelligent Strategies, Counter Options, and Resilient Defenses (DISCORD) program aims to develop an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-native approach for rapid generation of tactical options from both live sensor data and high-fidelity simulation. The goal is to provide commanders with a portfolio of diverse strategies that can pivot dynamically in response to evolving conditions. DISCORD is designed to produce explainable outcomes that human operators and commanders can validate, fostering trust in AI-driven decision support. DISCORD is intended to continuously adapt to changes in the operational environment, producing robust strategies that can pivot dynamically in response to evolving conditions. By discovering a wide range of superior and genuinely diverse strategies, rather than just a single optimized solution, the engine will help create true strategic flexibility. Importantly, this flexibility will afford commanders the power and freedom to exercise their own tactical judgment—born of hard-earned experience, training, and operational art—in ways that adversaries cannot poison, stymie, or accurately predict. DISCORD is a 24-month program organized into two 12-month phases. DARPA anticipates selecting multiple performers. The DARPA DISCORD effort implements Ender’s Foundry, one of several warfighting Pace-Setting Projects (PSPs) established by the Department of War. Ender’s Foundry’s intent is to accelerate AI-enabled simulation capabilities to ensure we stay ahead of AI-enabled adversaries. The effort being solicited by this program solicitation (PS) is controlled unclassified information (CUI).
Eligibility
Applicant restrictions (federal contract). Set-aside: . Notice type: Solicitation. Organization: DEPT OF DEFENSE / DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (DARPA) / DEF ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGCY.
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