B-52 Multi-Factor AI Performance Charts

STTR topic DAF27TZ02-DV004 (U.S. Department of Defense – Air Force), Phase I and II. Open to U.S. small businesses; STTR projects partner with a U.S. research institution. Opens: December 2, 2026. Closes: January 6, 2027. The B-52 Stratofortress has been the backbone of the United States Air Force's long-range strategic bomber capability for more than six decades. Despite multiple upgrades to its avionics and mission systems, aircrews continue to rely on labor-intensive, manually interpreted paper Technical Order performance charts and multi-step worksheets to calculate critical operational calculations such as takeoff and landing distances, brake energy limits, crosswind restrictions, runway condition impacts, directional control limits, and degraded-performance scenarios. These manual processes are time-consuming, increase cognitive workload and introduce opportunities for human error, and require aircrews to make high-stakes decisions under challenging time constraints, often during dynamic operational scenarios. Continued reliance on manual processes reduces operational efficiency, increases crew workload, and can negatively impact decision-making, especially in contested or degraded environments. The current state of the art within commercial aviation utilizes Electronic Flight Bag (EFB)-based performance planning tools capable of rapidly calculating aircraft performance using approved aircraft data and validated calculation methodologies. While these solutions demonstrate the feasibility of digital performance-planning capabilities, they do not incorporate B-52-specific TO data, military performance procedures, cybersecurity requirements, airworthiness considerations, or Department of the Air Force EFB integration requirements. As a result, a capability gap exists between current B-52 performance-planning processes and modern digital aviation decision-support systems. The proposed effort will begin at approximately TRL 3-4, leveraging prior Phase-I-like…