The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) unveiled a new artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled flight test vehicle the agency says demonstrates the ability to accelerate the development of national security technologies.
NNSA said in a June 24 press release its proof-of-concept vehicle, dubbed Aires Tide, was developed using AI, high-performance computing and additive manufacturing techniques to move from concept and design to flight testing on a compressed timeline and at lower cost than traditional approaches.
According to the agency, Aires Tide was developed under the Donald Trump administration’s Genesis Mission, an initiative launched by executive order in November 2025 to connect national laboratory supercomputers through AI-enabled capabilities. NNSA described the project as the first tangible demonstration of the Genesis platform.
The agency said the vehicle was developed 15 times less expensively and seven times faster than conventional manufacturing methods. The effort involved collaboration among Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories, as well as the Kansas City National Security Campus.
“Aires Tide is a remarkable early demonstration of how NNSA is putting the Genesis Mission into action,” NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams said in a statement. “By combining AI, high-performance computing, and additive manufacturing, we are pioneering a faster, more efficient model to design and produce capabilities for national security while keeping human judgment firmly at the center.”
NNSA said scientists conducted two successful flight tests of Aires Tide in May at the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. During the tests, the vehicle was dropped from an altitude of 32,000 feet. Data collected from the flights will be used to refine future systems developed through the same design and manufacturing framework.
The project relied on two of NNSA’s flagship supercomputers, Venado and El Capitan, to support the vehicle’s design. Agency officials said the effort reflects a broader push to integrate advanced computing, AI and additive manufacturing technologies into the Nuclear Security Enterprise in order to shorten development cycles and respond more rapidly to emerging national security challenges.