Team JMRC Warhogs
Team JMRC Warhogs
Carnegie Melon University
Split-Second Decisions, Lifesaving Tech: H4D Students Take Aim at Friendly Fire
The Team
Tanner Balluff
Tanner Balluff is a master's student in information security management and has a BS in information systems from CMU. He has previously been a software engineering intern at Amazon. He has a background in full-stack engineering, technology consulting, product/project management, and defense user discovery.
Jeffrey Zhang
Jeffrey is an information systems student at Carnegie Mellon University. He was the first Implementations Associate hire at Prelim (YC S17), a previous Tech Strategy intern at PwC, and is a professional fashion model.
Khushi Shah
Khushi just wrapped up her master’s in Information Security Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon. She recently joined Spotlight Security as a Software Engineer, where she’s working on AI-driven cybersecurity tools for critical infrastructure defense. Khushi is especially interested in dual-use tech and systems that hold up under pressure, and is excited to keep creating tools that make a real impact.
Overview
SSG Aaron Velenchenko and SFC Alfredo Montero from 7ATC JMRC Warthogs Team
Problem Sponsor
Improve accuracy rate of enemy targets engaged by calculating and displaying exactly where friendlies are in the commander’s viewer, so they no longer need to do mental math or understand the complex JBCP system, which requires extensive training and works inconsistently. This will improve interoperability, redundancy, and situational awareness.
20
Original Problem Statement
Number of Interviews
The Problem
Through the Spring 2025 Hacking for Defense (H4D) course at Carnegie Mellon University, Tanner Balluff, Khushi Shah, and Jeffrey Zhang took on a challenge with life-or-death consequences: preventing friendly fire incidents in modern armored warfare. This student team, calling themselves the JMRC Warhogs, partnered with the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Hohenfels, Germany, to tackle this critical issue affecting M1A2 Abrams tank operators.
Friendly fire incidents remain a persistent challenge in modern combat, especially in armored warfare. In the M1A2 Abrams tank, the Commander’s Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV) currently lacks the ability to visually distinguish friendly vehicles from hostiles in real time, placing the burden of identification solely on the crew. This limitation increases cognitive load, slows engagement decisions, and introduces significant risk in fast-moving, multi-vehicle environments, especially during joint and multinational operations.
“The primary viewer the commander uses doesn’t give you any visual cues to distinguish a friendly from an enemy unit,” Balluff explained. “Commanders must identify targets and decide whether to engage in fast-paced, high-stress environments where a single misidentification can have catastrophic consequences.” One such tragedy had already occurred in their sponsor’s unit, making the project intensely personal and urgent.
Tasked by JMRC to explore technical solutions to reduce fratricide and improve target identification confidence, the team began investigating how emerging technologies could augment or retrofit existing optics to better support operators under pressure.
The Innovation
The team created a prototype overlay system, dubbed 420: Friend or Foe, that integrates Blue Force Tracking (BFT) data directly into the Commander’s Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV) of the M1A2 Abrams. When the commander aims the CITV at a friendly vehicle, the system overlays a visual symbol based on ADP 1-02 military standards directly onto the display. This real-time visual confirmation acts as a final check before time of fire, when the information is most critical.
“It’s a final check before time of fire when the information is most useful,” said Balluff. The system was simple, intuitive, and impactful, qualities that resonated deeply with those in the field. By reducing cognitive burden and increasing target identification confidence, the solution aimed to significantly lower the risk of fratricide during high-tempo operations.
The team demoed a high-fidelity video of their proof-of-concept, showing correct symbology rendered over targets within the commander’s view. Their system pulls data from existing BFT infrastructure and recognition sensors, processes it through the Mounted Family of Computing Systems (MFoCS), and maps the output to the sightline in real time. Crucially, it was designed to integrate into Abrams hardware with minimal disruption.
When they presented the concept to tank commanders and gunners during their site visit in Germany, the response was extremely positive. “You guys pretty much have a million-dollar idea,” one beneficiary told them. Another added, “If you become millionaires, just don’t forget me.”
Presentation
Team JMRC Warhogs’ Hacking for Defense Experience
Through their H4D experience, the team deepened their understanding of defense innovation and operational complexity. Shah, with a background in cybersecurity and computer science, found the experience eye-opening in terms of business and the entrepreneurial mindset. “Even the entrepreneurial side of things, making a plan from scratch, building a new MVP, testing it out, etc. was completely new to me,” she shared. “The whole learning curve was really steep but it was really exciting as well.”
Balluff echoed the challenge and reward of learning the H4D methodology. “I came in with a product manager and full-stack engineering background, but this course gave me tools I didn’t even know I needed,” he said. “It removed my apprehension and gave me the structure to see that it worked.”
Both emphasized the importance of in-person fieldwork. Their trip to a combat training center in Poland was transformative. “It’s one thing to build code in a classroom,” Balluff reflected, “and another to be in Poland next to an Abrams tank loaded up to leave for Ukraine. It makes it real.” Shah added, “We couldn’t really get interviews from Pittsburgh. But in person, we had constant access and it made all the difference.”
When asked what kind of student should take the H4D course, Shah didn’t hesitate: “Anyone who’s mission-driven and wants to build something real. If you’ve never done it before, even better; this is the place to start.”
What’s Next
The Warhogs aren’t stopping here. All three members are continuing to push their H4D project forward. The team is joining the DISF-C and the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) commercialization pathway to explore whether their prototype can be adopted and fielded. “We’re asking: can we test it in a real environment? Can we get a transition partner? Can we find dual-use pathways?” Balluff explained. “Everyone we talked to thinks it can save lives. But there’s a long road from concept to adoption in the defense world, and we’re just getting started.”