DOW-UAP-D110, AAWSAP Statement of Objectives, July 2008
WAR.gov / Department of War PURSUE Release 06
This document is an administrative or programmatic record related to the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)-administered program active from 2008 to 2012.
Document Highlights
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Short overview
The four-page Statement of Objectives of 18 July 2008 with which the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Acquisition Support Division (DWO-3) set out what a contractor was to deliver under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP).
Why this is interesting
This is the founding tasking behind the AAWSAP records released alongside it (DOW-UAP-D111 to DOW-UAP-D153), among them the DIRD studies. The stated objective is to understand the physics and engineering of advanced aerospace weapon system applications as a foreign threat out to the year 2050, with the focus on breakthrough technologies rather than extrapolations of current technology. It lists twelve study areas, from lift, propulsion and power generation through “spatial/temporal translation” and signature reduction to human effects and armament. The document also shows the administrative frame: experts with at least ten years of experience, one PhD per analytical team, security clearances up to Top Secret/SCI, monthly status reports, research reports by the end of the tenth month, a final integrated threat assessment, and a firm-fixed-price contract of one base year plus four option years. The text speaks only of foreign threats and future technology; it does not mention unidentified objects.
Selected passages
- “Primary focus is on breakthrough technologies and applications that create discontinuities in currently evolving technology trends.”
- “The focus is not on extrapolations of current aerospace technology.”
Background
This document is an administrative or programmatic record related to the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)-administered program active from 2008 to 2012. AAWSAP’s official scope of work identified 12 technical research areas relating to potential aerospace threats over a time horizon of more than 40 years. As an administrative record, the file documents how AAWSAP was scoped, organized, tasked, funded, or described at a particular point in time. This July 2008 Statement of Objectives defines AAWSAP as a contractor-supported research effort intended to assess far-term foreign aerospace threats by understanding the physics and engineering of possible breakthrough technologies out to the year 2050 rather than extrapolating from then-current aerospace trends. It identifies 12 technical study areas, including lift, propulsion, control, power generation, spatial or temporal translation, materials, configuration and structure, signature reduction, human interface, human effects, armament, and related supporting topics. The document also sets out the program’s expected work structure, requiring monthly status reports, technical-area program management plans within 60 days, comprehensive research reports and briefings by the tenth month, and a final integrated threat assessment.