The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched a new push to conquer one of the Pentagon’s toughest sensing challenges: tracking enemy drones and ships in the chaotic Arctic. Through its “Frosty” program, solicitation PS-26-03, the agency is seeking industry proposals for advanced radar signal-processing that can maintain a 90% detection probability of targets at ranges beyond 75 km in the aurora-disrupted high north.
The Arctic is a radar operator’s nightmare. The shimmering aurora and unique ionospheric conditions scatter and distort traditional signals, creating a “noisy” environment where stealthy, low-flying threats can vanish. To solve this, DARPA, the Pentagon’s famed innovation arm, has formally called on the tech industry for help. On January 6, 2026, the agency released a detailed solicitation for its Frosty program, setting a deadline of January 30, 2026, for initial abstracts from companies ready to tackle the problem.
What exactly is DARPA after? According to the solicitation documents, the goal is to develop entirely new radar-based sensing modes. The agency wants innovative algorithms that can use “noise-like” illumination to peer through the Arctic’s electromagnetic static. The core idea is to leverage externally energized fields that send signals through the dispersive, ever-changing ionospheric channels of the polar region. “The intended architecture uses standoff illumination, coherent HF surface-wave return paths, and receive arrays that must process signals distorted by auroral scintillation,” the agency’s materials explain. In simpler terms, they need a system that can not only see through the visual noise of the Northern Lights but also use that chaotic environment to its advantage.
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The technical hurdles are significant. DARPA identifies three core risks: ensuring consistent illumination over a channel that changes by the minute, building accurate models from incomplete observable data, and actively correcting the signal distortion caused by the environment. The program builds on earlier research like the Assured Arctic Awareness program, aiming to create an end-to-end system that takes raw, cluttered data and spits out a clear, usable track of a target. Performance metrics are strict for the initial phase: systems must detect airborne targets at a minimum range of 75 kilometers, form a track using no more than 90 seconds of data, and maintain a probability of detection above 90 percent.
Testing for this futuristic radar tech will be as rugged as the environment it’s designed for. DARPA plans to use platforms like low-altitude C-12 aircraft and transponder-equipped vessels as controlled targets in central and northern Alaska, including the remote Point Barrow region and the Poker Flat Research Range. The multi-year schedule outlined in the solicitation stretches from data collection and algorithm development in 2026 through to demonstration events in 2028.
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The launch of the Frosty solicitation is a clear signal of the growing strategic importance of the Arctic. As great-power competition increases in the high latitudes, the U.S. military is investing in the foundational technologies needed to see, track, and ultimately dominate in one of the planet’s most unforgiving operational domains.
