Aether Sprint '26

Welcome to Aether Sprint, a Tesseract initiative designed to deliver readiness results across the Air Force. Thank you for your interest and desire to help transform what we do today to prepare us for the future fight. Aether Sprint is a platform for Maintenance, Munitions, and Logistics Airmen to have a voice and solve day-to-day issues with Air Force-wide impacts. The Aether Sprint concept derived from the 2019 Logistics "Think Tank" at the LOA Symposium and has evolved into an extension of Tesseract. The core of air power is sourced from Airmen, which is the intent of the Aether Sprint! Airmen developing viable solutions to big logistics problems and observations.

  • Applications are due by Friday, 26 September 2025 NLT 2359EST.
  • Teams must consist of no more than five members.



 

2026 Challenge Statements


  • How can BLADE be employed to sustain decision advantage and situational awareness across dynamic operational environments, while also improving interoperability of systems and data across U.S. services and allied partners?
     
  • ​How can the Air Force leverage innovative technologies and approaches to modernize aging infrastructure and equipment across logistics, maintenance, force protection, and civil engineering—creating a more agile, efficient, and resilient support network for current and future operations?
     
  • How might we drive operational readiness by strategically employing Advanced and Additive Manufacturing to counter DMSMS (Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages)?
     
  • How might we improve resourcing in austere and contested environments by optimizing the contents and distribution of prepositioned kits based on operational needs, and by reducing the time and cost of last-mile logistics to ensure delivery at the point of need?
     
  • How can we implement a secure, scalable, and resilient non-traditional logistics network (e.g., sUAS, autonomous systems) to reliably deliver critical supplies in contested environments while mitigating risks from adversarial systems and emerging threats?