Is the Air Force’s Kessel Run Software Factory Really Dead? Lessons from Its Rise and Fall

Background

In 2017 the U.S. Air Force created the Kessel Run software factory in Boston to apply agile and DevSecOps practices to the Air Operations Center (AOC) planning software.

The first product, Jigsaw , automated aerial refueling flight‑plan generation, replacing manual paper calculations and significantly improving speed and accuracy.

KRADOS Suite

Building on Jigsaw’s success, the team developed a portfolio of open‑source applications for mission planning, target allocation, fuel management, strike sequencing, and related functions. These tools were grouped under the Kessel Run All Domain Operations Suite (KRADOS) and deployed in the Air Force Central Command AOC. Updates were released on a quarterly cadence, incorporating direct user feedback to shorten development cycles.

KRADOS introduced several policy innovations, including Continuous ATO (automatic security authorization), agile contracting, and low‑volume procurement, which reduced traditional compliance and acquisition bottlenecks.

Challenges

Talent shortage: The vision of “soldier‑programmers” proved unrealistic; most development was performed by external contractors, leaving the Air Force without an internal coding base.

Scope creep: The effort expanded from a refueling‑planning tool to a full AOC replacement and support for multi‑domain operations and F‑35 logistics, causing several projects to stall for years.

Bureaucratic constraints: As the program grew, it required formal contracts, budget approvals, security reviews, and inter‑service coordination, which eroded the original agility.

Transition and Current Role

Leadership shifted to a model where the Air Force retains requirements, architecture, and acceptance testing while core development is outsourced to industry contractors. Kessel Run is now part of the Air Force PEO C3BM (Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management) and provides resilient command‑and‑targeting software to the DAF Battle Network.

Legacy

The initiative proved that agile, DevSecOps‑based software development can be operationalized in a military environment, influencing procurement and security policy and establishing a user‑centric development culture. The experience also highlighted three systemic risks:

Absence of an internal programmer workforce makes the “software factory” unsustainable.

Unclear mission boundaries lead to uncontrolled expansion of scope.

Without dedicated institutional support, innovative practices are eventually absorbed by existing bureaucracy.

Consequently, Kessel Run no longer exists as an independent experimental lab, but its artifacts—from Jigsaw to the KRADOS suite—and its process innovations remain integral components of the Air Force’s digital combat network.