# USSOCOM Technical Experimentation Events **Entity class:** Recurring invitation-based special-operations field experiments **Host:** [[wiki/United States Special Operations Command|United States Special Operations Command]] **Administrator:** [[wiki/SOF Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics|SOF Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics]] **As of:** 2026-09-23 ## Definition **USSOCOM Technical Experimentation (TE) Events** place selected technologies in hands-on environments where developers interact with special-operations personnel and government evaluators. USSOCOM uses the series to assess the maturity, utility, limits, and mission relevance of technologies generally at Technology Readiness Level 3 or higher. USSOCOM explicitly states that TE is not a marketing event, trade show, or acquisition event. Participation is selected through requests for information and invitations; visitors require sponsorship and a valid need to attend. That distinction explains why TE documentation tends to be capability-specific and operationally grounded. ## Relationships - **host:** [[wiki/United States Special Operations Command|United States Special Operations Command]]. - **administrator:** [[wiki/SOF Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics|SOF Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics]]. - **public counterpart:** [[wiki/SOF Week|SOF Week]]. - **event ecosystem:** [[wiki/Intelligence and Defense Conferences|Intelligence and Defense Conferences]]. - **collection route:** [[collections/Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment|Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment]]. ## Sources / Provenance - [USSOCOM — Technical Experimentation](https://www.socom.mil/SOF-ATL/technical_experimentation) - [USSOCOM — Technical Experimentation process and FAQ](https://www.socom.mil/SOF-ATL/Pages/Archive-technical-experimentation-faqs.aspx) ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "Preference is for lightweight, integrated, and multi-spectral sensor fusion with minimal A-kit impacts and fitting into existing onboard sensors." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Surveillance/Multi-Spectral Sensor Fusion Should Fit Existing Aircraft Sensors by USSOCOM|Multi-Spectral Sensor Fusion Should Fit Existing Aircraft Sensors by USSOCOM]] > "Reduced Operator Workload: Cognitive Decision Assessment and Aiding technologies to automate or reduce crew workloads. This should include data fusion to process, filter, and decipher available data to meet crews need." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Information/Automation Should Reduce Crew Workload Through Data Fusion by USSOCOM|Automation Should Reduce Crew Workload Through Data Fusion by USSOCOM]] > "Hostile Fire Indicating System (HFIS): Develop a low power multi-spectral sensor suitable for detecting, classifying, and geo-locating various forms of incoming hostile fire to SOF aircraft." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Surveillance/Hostile-Fire Sensors Should Detect Classify and Geolocate by USSOCOM|Hostile-Fire Sensors Should Detect Classify and Geolocate by USSOCOM]] > "Facial and Iris Tactical Media Triage and Processing: Develop techniques that could package facial images and/or irises from media sources into an Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification format that could be submitted, matched, and stored in an authoritative database." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Surveillance/Facial and Iris Media Can Be Prepared for Authoritative Matching by USSOCOM|Facial and Iris Media Can Be Prepared for Authoritative Matching by USSOCOM]] > "Secure Mesh, Self-forming Mobile Ad-hoc Networks: Secure, robust accredited devices that allow for the establishment of secure self-forming, mobile ad-hoc networks interoperable with Joint SOF and Joint Services for dismounted SOF mobility platforms including unmanned systems and sensors." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Information/Secure Mesh Networks Should Self-Form Across SOF Systems by USSOCOM|Secure Mesh Networks Should Self-Form Across SOF Systems by USSOCOM]] > "Network Analysis Techniques: Grouping nodes, identifying local patterns, comparing and contrasting networks, groups, and individuals. Analysis of network changes through space and time with change detection techniques." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Information/Network Analysis Should Track Groups Individuals Space and Time by USSOCOM|Network Analysis Should Track Groups Individuals Space and Time by USSOCOM]] > "Exploitation and Counter-threat: Ability to globally identify, attribute, geo-locate, monitor interdict, and defend against threats to Computer Network Operations and Information Systems." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Cybernetics/Cyber Threats Must Be Identified Attributed Geolocated Monitored Interdicted and Defeated by USSOCOM|Cyber Threats Must Be Identified Attributed Geolocated Monitored Interdicted and Defeated by USSOCOM]] > "Spectrum Management: Develop capabilities that fuse and correlate battlefield information from a variety of sources and display it in an accurate and shared common operational picture." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Information/Spectrum Management Should Fuse Battlefield Information Into a Common Picture by USSOCOM|Spectrum Management Should Fuse Battlefield Information Into a Common Picture by USSOCOM]] > "Electronic Warfare - Electromagnetic Support (ES): High bandwidth, fast tuning, high dynamic range with ultra-low receiver technologies that search, intercept, identify, and locate intentional and unintentional electromagnetic energy for the purpose of threat recognition, targeting, planning, and conduct of future operations." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Surveillance/Electronic Support Should Find Threat Emissions for Recognition and Targeting by USSOCOM|Electronic Support Should Find Threat Emissions for Recognition and Targeting by USSOCOM]] > "Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), SW Applications: Technologies that leverage AI/ML solutions to support the Information Operations portfolio of EW, MISO, OPSEC, CNO, and MILDEC." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Information/AI and Machine Learning Should Support Information Operations by USSOCOM|AI and Machine Learning Should Support Information Operations by USSOCOM]] > "Tagging, Tracking and Locating Devices: Low detectability systems that can provide long duration, small form factor, and low detectability communications for rapid and resilient geolocation of individuals, vehicles, or activities across land, air, sea, and space." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Surveillance/Tagging Tracking and Locating Should Rapidly Geolocate Across Domains by USSOCOM|Tagging Tracking and Locating Should Rapidly Geolocate Across Domains by USSOCOM]] > "Decrease in latency of ground systems to less than one millisecond from external activity to viewing by Operator. Decrease in latency of ground systems to less than one millisecond from Operator activity to external action." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Information/Ground Systems Should React in Less Than One Millisecond by USSOCOM|Ground Systems Should React in Less Than One Millisecond by USSOCOM]] > "Advanced Geospatial and Imagery Processing: Technologies on the frontiers of geospecific feature extraction, compression, data interoperability and fusion of sub-centimeter natural, built and augmented environments." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Information/Geospatial Processing Should Fuse Sub-Centimeter Environments by USSOCOM|Geospatial Processing Should Fuse Sub-Centimeter Environments by USSOCOM]] > "3D Modeling: Fuse Full Motion Video (FMV) from multiple sources to improve 3D modeling resolution of fine structures including thin wall and vertical obstructions such as poles and antennas." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Surveillance/Full-Motion Video Can Improve 3D Models of Fine Structures by USSOCOM|Full-Motion Video Can Improve 3D Models of Fine Structures by USSOCOM]] > "Data Ingest Mechanism for Monitoring and Measuring Information Environment: Develop a data ingest mechanism utilizing natural language processing to identify and refine relevant information in the online environment related to target audiences and web operations. Data should include social media monitoring, scraping, analysis, and reporting." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Information/Natural-Language Processing Can Monitor the Online Information Environment by USSOCOM|Natural-Language Processing Can Monitor the Online Information Environment by USSOCOM]] > "Advanced Data Management: SOF requires technologies that provide automatic ingestion, metadata tagging, indexing, storage, synchronization, fusion, deduplication, mining, and dissemination of data collected by widely dispersed SOF resources. Data repositories require the ability to run AI/ML algorithms against the data sets to reduce analyst workload and rapidly deliver answers to warfighter problem sets." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Information/Automated Data Management Should Rapidly Answer Warfighter Problems by USSOCOM|Automated Data Management Should Rapidly Answer Warfighter Problems by USSOCOM]] > "Advanced Situational Awareness in All Environments: Develop capabilities that fuse and correlate battlefield information from a variety of sources and display it in an accurate and shared intelligence/common operational picture." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Information/Situational Awareness Should Fuse Battlefield Information Into a Shared Picture by USSOCOM|Situational Awareness Should Fuse Battlefield Information Into a Shared Picture by USSOCOM]] > "This includes fusion of full motion video with other sources of information (Government owned data, Publicly/Commercially Available Information [PAI/CAI]), visually displayed in near real time to significantly improve the opportunities for knowledge management and discovery during operations." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Surveillance/Full-Motion Video and Public Information Can Be Fused in Near Real Time by USSOCOM|Full-Motion Video and Public Information Can Be Fused in Near Real Time by USSOCOM]] > "ISR - Tactical RF Signal Classification: Small devices capable of scanning RF spectrum and reporting classifications of signals found, along with signal related information." > **— USSOCOM**, *accessed September 23, 2026, USSOCOM Capability Areas of Interest* [[reminders/Surveillance/Small Devices Can Classify Tactical Radio-Frequency Signals by USSOCOM|Small Devices Can Classify Tactical Radio-Frequency Signals by USSOCOM]]