# CBB Project Brief: White-Label Ballistic Engine
**Status:** Concept
**Destination:** CBB_Corporate venture (IP-licensing business; graduates to `CBB_Corporate/03_-_Confidential/Product_Strategy/`)
**Tier:** 2 — Strong Candidate
**Classification:** Internal — Confidential
**Version and date:** see Revision Control Block at the end of this document

---

## Summary

A licensed SDK that embeds the ScopeDOPE™ ballistic engine — with DOPE-Blend™ field-correction — into third-party applications built by optics manufacturers, hardware companies, and software developers who want validated ballistic capability without building it themselves. An optics brand launching a companion app, a rangefinder manufacturer adding ballistic solutions, or a shooting sports app developer needing a physics engine all pay Cold Bore Ballistics™ a per-seat or per-integration license fee. This transforms ScopeDOPE's core technology into a B2B revenue stream independent of direct-to-consumer app sales.

---

## Problem Statement

Optics manufacturers, rangefinder makers, and shooting sports app developers who want to add ballistic solving to their products face a build-or-buy decision:

**Build:** Hire engineers who understand exterior ballistics, implement drag models (G1, G7, custom CDM), atmospheric corrections (Litz-McMillan density altitude, Coriolis, spin drift), and validate against real-world data. 6–18 months of engineering time, $150,000–$500,000 in development cost, ongoing maintenance. Few small manufacturers can afford this.

**Buy (current options):** License Applied Ballistics' engine — but AB is selective about partnerships, has a restrictive SDK, and is tightly integrated with the Kestrel ecosystem. No other licensable precision-grade ballistic engine exists for mobile at any price.

**The gap:** A manufacturer like Apex Optics (see OPTICS_PARTNERSHIP_TARGETS.md), building a companion app for their Nemesis PRS scope, wants real ballistic solving capability. They can't afford to build it, and Applied Ballistics may not license to them. Cold Bore Ballistics can.

---

## Product Concept

### Engine SDK Components

**ScopeDOPE Engine SDK (iOS/Android/Server)**

Core capabilities:
- Point-mass exterior ballistics solver (G1, G7, custom CDM)
- Atmosphere: Litz-McMillan density altitude, ICAO standard atmosphere, custom altitude entry
- Environmental corrections: Coriolis effect, spin drift, aerodynamic jump
- Wind: full/partial/no-value with cosine correction
- DOPE-Blend input: accepts confirmed impact data as engine calibration inputs (the core differentiator)
- Output: come-up table (MRAD or MOA), wind holds at given MPH, time of flight, retained energy

**Integration interface:**
- Swift package (iOS)
- Kotlin library (Android)
- Python package (server-side / backend integration)
- REST microservice (for partners who want a containerized endpoint rather than an embedded library)

**What is NOT included in the white-label:**
- CBB brand or ScopeDOPE name (licensee builds their own UI and branding)
- DOPE database access (that is the Data API — Brief #09, separate product)
- Niimbot label printing integration (ScopeDOPE-exclusive feature)
- WeatherFlow sensor integration (ScopeDOPE-exclusive feature)

---

## Target Customer

**Optics manufacturers building companion apps:** Apex Optics, Arken Optics, Tract Optics (see OPTICS_PARTNERSHIP_TARGETS.md). Each of these brands has scopes with no app ecosystem. They want to build one. The ballistic engine is the hardest part.

**Rangefinder manufacturers:** A rangefinder that displays a ballistic solution needs a ballistic engine. The Sig Sauer BDX 2.0 system uses Applied Ballistics. A manufacturer who wants to compete without AB's terms can use CBB's engine.

**Military/LE training software vendors:** Government contractors who build ballistic training simulators or marksmanship training software. These buyers have budget and need validated physics.

**Shooting sports app developers:** A developer building a hunting app, a military training app, or a competitive shooting app who needs a ballistic engine without building one.

---

## Revenue Model

**Per-integration license:**
| License type | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile SDK (per app) | $5,000–$15,000 one-time | Single app deployment, unlimited users |
| Server SDK | $10,000–$25,000 one-time | Backend/API deployment |
| REST microservice | $500–$2,000/month | Hosted endpoint, managed by CBB |
| Enterprise | Custom | OEM embedding, white-label engine in hardware |

**Annual maintenance/update fee:** 20% of initial license per year — covers engine updates, new drag models, atmospheric model improvements.

**OEM hardware embedding:** A rangefinder or scope manufacturer who embeds the engine in firmware pays a per-unit royalty (e.g., $2–5/unit). At 10,000 units/year, this is $20,000–$50,000/year from a single hardware partner.

**Revenue ceiling:** One enterprise OEM hardware deal with a partner like Sig Sauer (for a rangefinder) or a scope manufacturer could generate more annual revenue than the entire ScopeDOPE consumer app business in year one. This is the transformational revenue potential of the white-label engine.

---

## Strategic Fit with CBB / ScopeDOPE

**The DOPE-Blend differentiation:** The white-label engine's unique selling point is the DOPE-Blend capability — the ability to accept confirmed impact data as calibration inputs. No other licensable ballistic engine does this. An optics manufacturer who licenses the CBB engine gets a fundamentally more accurate ballistic engine than they could build from first principles.

**Partnership → integration pathway:** An optics partner who licenses the engine for their companion app becomes invested in the CBB ecosystem. Their app uses the .dope format (via the .dope SDK — Brief #06), their app talks to CBB's data API (Brief #09), and their users are natural ScopeDOPE upsells. The white-label engine is the anchor of a multi-product B2B relationship.

**Acquisition signal:** A company with licensed technology in multiple third-party products is more valuable in an acquisition than a standalone app company. Acquirers pay for technology that is already proven in production at multiple customers.

---

## Competitive Landscape

| Engine | Licensable | Mobile SDK | DOPE-Blend input | Price transparency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applied Ballistics (Hornady) | Limited/selective | Yes | No | Not public |
| JBM Ballistics | No | No | No | N/A |
| Kestrel LiNK | No (hardware-tied) | No | No | N/A |
| **CBB Ballistic Engine** | **Yes** | **Yes** | **Yes** | **Published** |

CBB would be the first and only licensable precision-grade ballistic engine with DOPE-Blend capability for mobile.

---

## Technical Overview

**Packaging the engine:**

ScopeDOPE's ballistic engine already exists as a tested, validated implementation. The white-label work involves:
1. Extracting the engine from the ScopeDOPE app into a standalone library with a clean public API
2. Writing comprehensive documentation and integration guides
3. Building a test harness that licensees can use to validate their integration
4. Establishing a CI/CD pipeline that keeps the library synchronized with ScopeDOPE's internal engine

**Public API design (example):**
```swift
// iOS (Swift)
let engine = CBBBallisticEngine()
engine.setProjectile(bc: 0.301, bcType: .G7, weight: 140, diameter: 0.264)
engine.setMuzzleVelocity(fps: 2960)
engine.setAtmosphere(altitude: 1200, temperature: 72, humidity: 45, pressure: 29.82)
engine.setWind(speed: 8, angle: 90)

// DOPE-Blend: feed confirmed impacts as calibration
engine.addConfirmedImpact(distance: 300, verticalDeviation: 0.0, windDeviation: 0.0)
engine.addConfirmedImpact(distance: 500, verticalDeviation: 0.1, windDeviation: 0.0)

let solution = engine.solve(distances: [100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800])
// Returns: [(distance, elevation_mrad, wind_mrad_per_mph, tof_s, retained_energy_ftlb)]
```

**Complexity estimate:** Medium. The engine exists. The work is: clean API design, documentation, test harness, licensing infrastructure (API key + license validation). 4–6 weeks of engineering.

---

## Go-to-Market

**Phase 1 — Warm outreach (at ~2,000 ScopeDOPE installs):**
Contact the Tier 1 optics partners from OPTICS_PARTNERSHIP_TARGETS.md — Apex Optics, Arken, Tract. "You need a companion app. You need a ballistic engine. Here's ours."

**Phase 2 — Partnership announcement (at ~5,000 installs):**
Announce first white-label partnership publicly. "ScopeDOPE's engine powers [Partner]'s ballistic workflow." Co-marketing with partner.

**Phase 3 — Broader market (at scale):**
Approach military training software vendors, rangefinder manufacturers, hunting app developers.

---

## Success Metrics

| Metric | Year 1 | Year 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Active engine licensees | 1 | 3 |
| Annual license revenue | $15,000 | $60,000 |
| OEM hardware embedding deals | 0 | 1 |
| Partner apps in production using CBB engine | 1 | 3 |

---

## Risks & Mitigations

| Risk | Likelihood | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Partners want full source code escrow — complex IP terms | Medium | Offer binary SDK with source escrow through a third-party escrow service |
| Engine used in a competing product that cannibalizes ScopeDOPE | Low | License terms prohibit use in a product that directly competes with ScopeDOPE's core DOPE management workflow |
| Applied Ballistics responds by offering more competitive licensing | Low | AB's business model depends on Kestrel hardware — they have structural reasons not to license aggressively |
| Maintenance burden increases with multiple SDK consumers | Medium | Strict versioning (never break the public API in a minor version), automated test suite |

---

## Resource Requirements

- 1 developer (Jason) — 4–6 weeks for initial packaging, documentation, test harness
- IP attorney review of license terms: $1,000–3,000
- License management infrastructure: simple API key validation service (1 week)

---

## Recommended Timing

**Begin design at ~1,000 ScopeDOPE installs.** Clean API design requires knowing what the engine's real-world integration requirements are — that clarity comes from experience building ScopeDOPE. Don't over-engineer the API before real partner requirements are known.

**First partner outreach at ~2,000 installs.** Credibility requires a live, proven product. A white-label pitch from a company with 2,000 active users is credible. A pitch from a pre-launch company is not.

---

## Open Questions

- Should the DOPE-Blend capability be included in the base license or as a premium add-on? Recommendation: premium add-on — it is the unique differentiator and should command a premium.
- Should the engine be open source (driving adoption) or closed source (protecting IP)? Recommendation: closed source binary with open source test harness — the test harness lets partners validate integration; the implementation is proprietary.
- What is the minimum ScopeDOPE validation data required before the engine is licensable? Recommendation: the engine should be field-validated against at least 1,000 confirmed ScopeDOPE sessions before being licensed — don't sell a ballistic engine that hasn't been proven in the field.

---

## Document Control

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| **Document owner** | `jschwefel@coldboreballisticsllc.com` |
| **Classification** | Confidential (03_-_Confidential/) |
| **Location** | `OneDrive/ScopeDOPE/03_-_Confidential/Product_Strategy/CBB_BRIEF_10_WHITE_LABEL_ENGINE.md` |
| **Cross-references** | `CBB_PROJECT_BRIEFS_TOC.md` |
| **Created** | 2026-06-02 |
| **Last updated** | 2026-06-09 |
| **Next full review due** | 2027-06-02 |

---

## Revision Control Block

| Rev | Date | Changed By | Reviewed By | Approved By | Summary |
|-----|------|------------|-------------|-------------|-------|
| 0.9 | 2026-06-02 | jschwefel | — | — | Initial release |
| DRAFT | 2026-06-09 | Claude (Opus 4.8) | — | — | Fixed "DOPE-blend"→"DOPE-Blend™" (7 occurrences, incl. code comment) per BRAND_LEGAL_LANGUAGE_GUIDE. Removed banned "DOPE-blend ballistic engine" compound in §summary → "ballistic engine with DOPE-Blend field-correction" (engine-as-licensable-product preserved; the doc is explicitly about licensing the engine SDK — adjacent "DOPE-Blend capability/input/differentiation" phrasing retained as it describes a capability of the engine, not a name for it). Applied ™ to first use of ScopeDOPE/Cold Bore Ballistics. Portfolio pass (same date): removed header version number (→ Status/Destination + revision-block pointer); added Destination tag (CBB_Corporate venture). |
