Parallax/OAI: Helping to Build the Connective Tissue of Golden Dome
Golden Dome is America’s bold vision for a next-generation missile defense shield. While others focus on interceptors and radars, Parallax Advanced Research and the Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI) deliver the glue that binds them—fusion, workflows, testbeds, and workforce pipelines. Our greatest contribution to the Golden Dome mission is accelerating integration, minimizing risk, and shaping a kill web that is resilient, scalable, and ready when called upon.
The Threat
America’s current missile defense system was designed for rogue launches from North Korea or Iran. Today, China and Russia also field advanced ballistic and hypersonic systems, complete with decoys, countermeasures, and dim signatures. Add cruise missiles and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) at low altitude, and the picture becomes clear: our homeland missile defense was not built for these threats.
Golden Dome, as envisioned by the White House, is meant to close these gaps. But exquisite interceptors and radars won’t be enough. Success hinges on what ties the system together—fusion engines, decision aids, operator workflows, test environments, and workforce pipelines that make the kill web infrastructure work in practice.
Current Gaps
Despite decades of investment, today’s missile defense enterprise struggles against emerging threats:
Data Overload: Multi-domain sensors are producing torrents of data operators cannot keep pace with.
Cognitive Saturation: Human crews face salvos, deception campaigns, and hypersonics under extreme time pressure.
Low-Altitude Blind Spots: Cruise missiles and UAS flying at infrastructure altitude demand new defensive coverage.
Integration Risk: Without shared standards and testbeds, new capabilities risk stovepiping.
Workforce Scale: Golden Dome requires a cleared technical workforce larger than any mobilized to date.
At Parallax/OAI, our greatest opportunity lies in helping close these gaps—accelerating integration, de-risking complex architectures, and ensuring Golden Dome evolves into a resilient, scalable, and mission-ready kill web.
To explore how Parallax/OAI can help close these gaps, we spoke with subject-matter experts across our organization—each offering insights on how to build the connective tissue Golden Dome requires.
Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) Test Beds
Golden Dome needs a proving ground where concepts can be modeled, stressed, and refined long before hardware hits the field. Parallax/OAI’s LVC environments deliver exactly that: realistic, repeatable, and high-fidelity simulations that expose vulnerabilities and optimize concepts at low cost and low risk. Our analysts build adversary models with true systems-of-systems fidelity, enabling crews to rehearse against realistic tactics and saturation conditions.
“We can model out reality first—then put physical things in place,” ensuring the system performs before the stakes are real,” said Justin Morgan, Lead Intelligence Research Analyst.
Operator Workflows & Human Performance
Even the world’s best sensors and interceptors fail if crews are cognitively overloaded. Parallax/OAI designs operator workflows around human cognition, surfacing the right information at the right moment while reducing mental burden during high-pressure raids. Our training pipelines incorporate physiological data, stress inoculation, and cross-service mental model alignment to build operators who think and act as one team.
As Dr. Mary Frame, Program Manager & Director of Cognitive Research, said, “You must engineer workflows that surface the right information, at the right time, in the right form,” or risk slowing crews when seconds matter.
Fusion Engines & Decision Support (MATRIX)
Golden Dome demands decision aids that can cut through torrents of multi-domain sensor data and highlight what matters most. Mission Analytics Technology and Research for Innovative eXploitation (MATRIX) program fuses space IR, radar, EO/IR, and RF inputs into precise, explainable recommendations that accelerate detection, tracking, allocation, and engagement. Our approach ensures commanders trust the system, even under saturation stress, because it shows not only what it recommends but why.
As Dr. Steven Harbour, Director of AI Hardware Research, said, “If operators see inconsistent or unexplained AI decisions, they hesitate—and you can’t afford hesitation in a raid.”
BVLOS, Low-Altitude Defense & Multi-UAS C2
Cruise missiles and UAS threats require a low-altitude defensive layer that is mobile, responsive, and integrated with civil airspace. Parallax/OAI brings deep expertise in beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations, multi-UAS control, and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) fusion to extend Golden Dome’s visibility over cities, ports, and infrastructure corridors. Our tools allow operators to safely maneuver UAS, ingest civil traffic, and track non-cooperative threats that won’t broadcast friendly identifiers.
As Dr. Dave Gross, Director of Unmanned Systems Research said, “Noncooperative targets demand external sensing and smart workflows—encrypted links mean takeover isn’t a strategy you can count on.”
Open Standards & Consortium Leadership
Golden Dome lacks shared standards—a risk that can slow integration, fragment architectures, and stall fielding. Parallax/OAI’s strength as a neutral convener enables us to bring primes, SMEs, government, and academia together to define interfaces, schemas, and operating rules that make true interoperability possible. With experience standing up national consortia, we know how to align incentives, clarify IP terms, and ensure broad participation.
As Anthony Gillespie, Director of Technology Based Economic Development said, “Our role is to build the table, set the rules, and keep everyone at it.”
AI Assurance for Fire Control
Golden Dome will rely heavily on AI for track correlation, shot recommendation, and interceptor allocation—but only if that AI is trusted. Parallax/OAI uses neuromorphic adversarial testing, fusion-layer validation, and embedded self-monitoring to expose failure modes early and ensure models remain resilient under deception, clutter, and stress. Our “AI that attacks AI” approach gives commanders confidence that the system performs in the fog of war, not just in the lab.
As Dr. Harbour said, “Red-teaming is testing your own system before the adversary does.”
Workforce Development & Pipeline Mobilization
Golden Dome requires a national-scale mobilization of cleared and technically skilled workers—something that does not yet exist at the required volume. Parallax/OAI builds data-driven workforce pipelines that identify competencies, forecast demand, and train technicians, engineers, and operators aligned to Golden Dome’s mission. Our partnerships across Ohio’s universities, industry, and research institutions make it possible to grow talent at speed and sustain the pipeline for decades. With OAI’s proven history, we ensure the workforce evolves alongside the architecture itself.
“Building the workforce for Golden Dome and other technical warfighting priorities begins with getting more children interested in STEM careers earlier and accelerating the workforce from training and education to work faster,” said Dr. Edie Williams, Director, Strategic Education and Workforce Development.
Solutions Spotlight: Parallax/OAI Capabilities for Golden Dome
MATRIX – Fusion and Decision Aids
Human-machine teaming that fuses multi-domain sensor data (space IR, radar, EO/IR, RF) into precision decision aids. Provides explainable AI recommendations to reduce uncertainty under saturation raids.
Sphinx – Operator Workflows
Analyst tooling reimagined for missile defense, enabling operators to pivot seamlessly from detection to custody to engagement. Reduces cognitive burden and accelerates time-critical decisions.
UAS & Advanced Air Mobility Integration
Low-altitude defense cells that integrate counter-UAS and Short-Range Air Defense sensors with civil and mobility traffic. Supports urban and critical-infrastructure protection while feeding into the national picture.
LVC Testbeds in Ohio
Live-virtual-constructive environments where Golden Dome concepts can be prototyped and rehearsed. Provides a low-risk, low-cost sandbox to stress-test raid scenarios, cross-service handoffs, and commercial sensor integration.
Human Performance & AR/VR Training Pipelines
Research-driven training that replicates cognitive stress in safe, immersive environments. Builds muscle memory and joint crew readiness across Army, Navy, Space Force, and MDA.
Open Standards & Consortium Leadership
Proven experience leading consortia (DRIVE, PWIC). Expertise in aligning primes, subject matter experts, and academia with the right contracting mechanisms, IP terms, and SBIR/STTR on-ramps.
AI Assurance for Fire Control
Red-teaming and validation of AI/ML components in track correlation and interceptor allocation. Ensures trustworthy AI is baked into Command Control Battle Management Communications from day one.
The Strength of the Web
Golden Dome will test America’s ability to innovate and integrate at speed. The question isn’t whether we can build the world’s most advanced interceptors—we can. The question is whether they will work together, across domains, across services, and across allies. Parallax/OAI is committed to building that glue. From fusion engines and operator workflows to LVC testbeds and workforce pipelines, we are enabling Golden Dome to succeed. In the end, Golden Dome won’t be judged by any one sensor or interceptor, but by the strength of the web that binds them.
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About Parallax Advanced Research and the Ohio Aerospace Institute
Parallax Advanced Research is a research institute that tackles global challenges through strategic partnerships with government, industry, and academia. It accelerates innovation, addresses critical global issues, and develops groundbreaking ideas with its partners. With offices in Ohio and Virginia, Parallax aims to deliver new solutions and speed them to market. In 2023, Parallax and the Ohio Aerospace Institute formed a collaborative affiliation to drive innovation and technological advancements in Ohio and for the nation. The Ohio Aerospace Institute plays a pivotal role in advancing the aerospace industry in Ohio and the nation by fostering collaborations between universities, aerospace industries, and government organizations, and managing aerospace research, education, and workforce development projects.