AURORA-X: An Intent-Centric Sovereign Meta-Defence Architecture for Internal Security and Classified Infrastructure

Zenodo Description AURORA-X: An Intent-Centric Sovereign Meta-Defence Architecture for Internal Security and Classified Infrastructure AURORA-X (Adaptive Unified Resilient Operational Reference Architecture – X) is an original, sovereign-grade meta-defence framework designed to address the emerging realities of internal security and classified infrastructure protection in an era defined by hybrid conflict, strategic ambiguity, and rapid technological convergence. Conventional security and defence models primarily focus on protecting systems, networks, or assets after threats become operationally visible. AURORA-X departs fundamentally from this approach by introducing Intent-Centric Defence, a paradigm in which threats are understood not as isolated technical artifacts, but as directional intent propagating across interconnected cognitive, digital, physical, legal, and geopolitical domains. The framework formalizes a Five-Plane Sovereign Defence Model, comprising: The Intent Plane, where adversarial or destabilizing intent originates prior to operationalization; The Cognitive Infrastructure Plane, encompassing human judgment, institutional decision-making, and AI-assisted reasoning; The Digital–Logical Infrastructure Plane, including networks, cryptographic systems, AI pipelines, and supply chains; The Cyber-Physical Infrastructure Plane, where digital control produces physical consequences across critical systems; The Legal–Sovereign Surface Plane, recognizing legal regimes, standards competition, and regulatory asymmetry as active security surfaces. AURORA-X introduces the Non-Linear Threat Emergence Doctrine, demonstrating that modern threats do not escalate sequentially, remain domain-bound, or require direct technical intrusion. Instead, they undergo phase-shift propagation across planes, often manifesting as systemic paralysis without a single identifiable exploit. At its operational core, the framework defines a human-governed Adaptive Defence Engine (ADE) built on continuous Sentinel Loops integrating: AI-assisted weak-signal detection and correlation, Human contextual interpretation and ethical judgment, and Policy-bound authorization, legal compliance, and escalation governance. The architecture is explicitly defensive, non-kinetic, and lawful, aligned with international humanitarian principles, AI governance norms, and democratic civilian oversight. It contains no operational hacking techniques, no exploit methodologies, and no classified material. AURORA-X is intended as a reference architecture for national security institutions, defence research organizations, critical infrastructure operators, and multinational alliances. It is designed to complement—rather than replace—existing standards and doctrines (e.g., ISO/IEC, NIST, NATO frameworks), while offering a forward-looking conceptual foundation suitable for future standardization, academic scrutiny, and policy adoption. This release constitutes the Final Ultimate Edition – Clean Preprint, published for open scholarly access, sovereign-level conceptual use, and long-term archival reference. Author Dr. B. MazumdarIndependent Researcher–Scholar Research Domains:AI Governance • Cybersecurity • Post-Quantum Cryptography • Digital Statecraft Founder: FAIR+D Canon — India (2025) ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5615-3558 Keywords Sovereign Defence; Internal Security; Meta-Defence Architecture; Intent-Centric Defence; AI Governance; Cyber-Physical Systems; Post-Quantum Cryptography; Legal and Standards Warfare; National Security Frameworks