LOS ANGELES, May 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nominal announced it has been selected for a contract to serve as the foundational data architecture for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) CyPhER Forge program. The contract is executed through Nominal’s Air Force Test Center (AFTC) IDIQ.
The Cyber Physical Systems Executing in Real Time (CyPhER) Forge program aims to revolutionize the Pentagon’s Test and Evaluation (T&E) by decoupling test duration from the complexity of physical systems. According to DARPA, the program seeks to reduce required test points for developmental systems by an order of magnitude through the use of real-time digital twins and AI test agents.
Nominal will serve as the data backbone for next-generation flight testing, providing the essential infrastructure for training and validating high-fidelity flight test models and AI test agents. Nominal’s platform provides a managed data layer and tooling to a diverse ecosystem of performers—likely including major systems integrators and top-tier research institutes—as they build the digital twins and autonomous agents required to modernize combat system testing.
“By serving as the data backbone for CyPhER Forge, Nominal is providing the connective tissue that allows digital twins to become a truth source that merges physics modeling with empirical test data in service of better testing and deploying better technology to the warfighter,” said Cameron McCord, CEO and co-founder at Nominal. “We’re grateful for the continued partnership with DARPA, the Air Force, and the Department of Defense. We’ll enable hardware engineers from across organizations to move at the speed of relevance.”
Nominal’s work supports CyPhER Forge’s ultimate goal to establish a methodology that replaces a significant portion of live flight test activities with high-confidence simulation. This shift is expected to dramatically collapse test timelines and reduce costs while accounting for safety and reliability as primary priorities for new technologies.
Nominal’s selection for this program follows its recent $53 million IDIQ award with the Air Force Test Center, representing the company’s foundational role in standardizing data tooling.
About Nominal
Founded in 2022, Nominal is built on the belief that learning from tests faster than the threat is how the United States builds lasting technological advantage. By turning testing into a continuous, secure source of truth across complex programs, Nominal helps the government and its partners field mission-critical systems with speed and confidence. For more information, visit: https://nominal.io/. Follow Nominal on LinkedIn and X.
Media Contact: press@nominal.io
