Driving the Future of On-Device AI Agents, LLMs, and Computer Vision for Warfighters in DDIL Environments

EdgeRunner AI, the leader in military-specific, on-device artificial intelligence, today announced its selection for two Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). These dual collaborations will accelerate the deployment of mission-specific AI designed to give U.S. warfighters an unrivaled technological advantage at the tactical edge.

Under the ARL CRADA, EdgeRunner AI will advance computer vision and small language model (SLM) capabilities for robotic platforms at the tactical edge. Under the AFRL CRADA, EdgeRunner AI will deliver specialized large language models (LLMs) and AI agents to Airmen and Guardians. Purpose-built for Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) environments, these models will enable warfighters and autonomous systems to perform reliably in disconnected, high-threat battlefields—without relying on cloud infrastructure.

“Being selected for not one but two CRADAs by ARL and AFRL underscores the trust the Department of War has in EdgeRunner’s vision,” said Tyler Saltsman, Co-Founder & CEO at EdgeRunner AI. “We’re not just building AI—we’re building warfighter-ready AI that runs where it matters most: at the tactical edge, in the fight, and in the service of national security. The military-specific AI agents that we build to make our warfighters better will make us the very reason why the enemies of the United States of America will be afraid to go to sleep at night.”

Lt. Col. Adam Palmer, Deputy Division Chief at the U.S. Air Force Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Office, after using the EdgeRunner AI platform, commented: “As a Headquarters staff officer, I rely on precise, rapid analysis of complex documents like the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to inform critical decision-making. EdgeRunner AI's EdgeRunner-Light LLM has proven exceptional in this regard, seamlessly ingesting and querying the NDAA with unparalleled accuracy and speed. Unlike larger commercial models, which struggled to return even basic responses, EdgeRunner-Light’s Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) capabilities set a new gold standard for secure, on-device AI. Its ability to operate offline on consumer-grade hardware ensures mission-ready performance in any environment. EdgeRunner AI is redefining what’s possible for defense-focused AI applications.”

These partnerships firmly position EdgeRunner AI as a central force in shaping the future of U.S. defense technology, ensuring America’s military has fast, secure, and mission-adapted AI capabilities across air, land, and cyber domains.

About EdgeRunner AI

EdgeRunner AI is the leader in military-specific, on-device artificial intelligence, offering the world’s fastest on-device military AI platform, engineered for Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) environments. With cutting-edge LLMs, intelligent agents, and computer vision systems, EdgeRunner AI delivers warfighters AI-driven speed, precision, and autonomy—without the cloud. For more information, visit: https://www.edgerunnerai.com

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