A modern, powerful military relies on advanced, resilient software to support the weapons and systems that U.S. warfighters need. However, the Department of Defense (DoD) still depends on outdated IT infrastructure and decades-old security policies, leaving legacy and modern systems alike vulnerable to cyber threats.
Adversaries are exploiting these weaknesses—targeting critical systems, stealing sensitive code, and compromising national security.
To tackle this, DARPA is advancing formal methods—a mathematically proven software development process that helps eliminate vulnerabilities before deployment. The U.S. Air Force is now applying this approach to the MQ-9 Reaper program.
Formal Methods: Building Security from the Start
Unlike traditional software testing, which identifies flaws after development, formal methods mathematically verify software behavior during creation, ensuring systems work exactly as intended. DARPA’s tools using formal methods are already transitioning to operational platforms but need wider adoption to fully strengthen cybersecurity across the military.
Resilient Software Systems Capstone Program
DARPA’s Capstone program is working with each military branch to promote formal methods across critical platforms. These 24-month projects will evaluate costs, resilience, required expertise, and time savings.
Key goals:
Develop inherently secure software
Accelerate the Authority to Operate (ATO) process
Streamline developmental testing
Create best practices for wider adoption
The Air Force selected the MQ-9 Reaper as its first Capstone platform, citing its accessibility and readiness for software upgrades. Historically, weapon systems like the MQ-9 have required lengthy 12-18 month testing cycles due to the complexity of software changes.
DARPA’s tools address this by moving more verification into the early development phase and analyzing existing legacy code for safety and stability. These tools can also produce certification documents like ATOs and airworthiness approvals.
Program Offices and OEMs now have access to software acceleration tools that complement newer acquisition pathways and can speed up development safely.
Along with the Air Force, DARPA is collaborating with the Navy, Army, and NASA on additional Capstone experiments to expand this software modernization effort across defense systems.
