Pentagon Deploys AI-Powered System To Enhance Naval Warfare Planning

The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has awarded a contract to San Francisco-based Scale AI to develop “Thunderforge,” an artificial intelligence (AI) system designed to assist U.S. military commanders in planning and executing operations more efficiently.

The project aims to enhance military decision-making by integrating AI into war planning, logistics, and wargaming tools.

Thunderforge will help theater-level commanders decide how to deploy warships, aircraft, and troops by analysing vast amounts of operational data.

The system is expected to replace outdated Pentagon computing methods, which currently require hundreds of hours to process mission plans.

The primary benefit of Thunderforge lies in its ability to gather and analyse large volumes of data needed for planning military operations. This process, which previously took days or weeks using traditional methods, will now be automated and streamlined using AI tools.

The technology is being developed by Scale AI in collaboration with Microsoft, Anduril’s Lattice platform, and Google. Officials working on the project have stated that while AI will assist in military planning, all decisions will remain under human control.

A DIU program lead overseeing Thunderforge said that current military planning still relies on outdated methods and software, creating a mismatch between the speed of modern warfare and the military’s ability to respond.

The system is designed to close this gap by introducing AI-powered analysis and automation into operational and strategic planning.

The Indo-Pacific Command and European Command will be the first to deploy Thunderforge, as both regions hold strategic importance for the United States.

Officials familiar with the project explained that the AI system will integrate intelligence data, battlefield sensor inputs, and real-time information on friendly and enemy troop positions.

This will enable commanders to make faster, data-driven decisions on resource allocation. A high-ranking official from Indo-Pacific Command praised DIU for developing and fielding emerging technologies.

Similarly, a senior European Command official welcomed AI-driven decision-making tools, stating that they would significantly improve operational efficiency.

DIU, a Silicon Valley-based division of the Defense Department, was created to help commercial technology companies integrate their products into military applications.

Scale AI, the lead contractor for the project, was founded in 2016 by a physicist’s son and has aggressively positioned itself as a key player in U.S. defense AI development.

The company’s federal division head, who previously served in the U.S. Marines, said that military leaders have long theorised about AI’s potential in planning, but the technology is not at a point where it can be effectively deployed.

Major tech firms that previously avoided defense contracts are now more open to military collaborations. Google, for example, recently lifted its pledge not to develop AI for military use.

Critics argue that military AI must be closely regulated to prevent ethical violations and ensure human accountability in warfare.

Reference: washingtonpost