U.S. military branches are ramping up efforts to help the Department of Defense achieve objectives it has set for the Joint All-Domain Command and Control strategy.
To enable data sharing across the different services within the agency, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a strategy document for the Department of Defense’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control concept in May.
The JADC2 document’s signing signaled the continuous experimentation phase in which each service will ensure that the “best solution” will be implemented.
Lt. Gen. Dennis Crall, chief information officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the approach will “bring order to our efforts in the command and control arena to sense, make sense and act all at the speed of relevance.”
The strategy also lays out the groundwork needed for incorporating artificial intelligence, 5G, machine learning, predictive analytics and other advanced technologies, Crall said during a Pentagon press briefing on June 4.
Earlier in April, the Army Futures Command’s Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center tapped Booz Allen Hamilton to be the primary developer of a common data fabric that will allow data synchronization across incompatible systems.
The Rainmaker program will leverage the diverse expertise of Booz Allen in software development, data engineering, DevSecOps and AI to develop the data fabric that will operate open system architectures and common standards. These features will seek to allow the various systems in the DOD to discover, access and securely synchronize data.
The company also indicated that the program will serve as the “foundation layer” for the JADC2 strategy of the department.
“Rainmaker will form one of the pillars of the Pentagon’s JADC2 vision as well as the foundation on which the Army and others can build a wide array of AI services to improve decision making on and off the battlefield,” said Gus Taveras, senior executive adviser in the of Booz Allen’s defense market.
Meanwhile, to achieve decision superiority as part of the Architecture Demonstration and Evaluation exercise, the Department of the Air Force’s Chief Architect Office performed experiments that involved the incorporation of commercial technologies.
The ADE 5 sought to push the DOD toward an integrated mission system with AI-enabled decision superiority over combatant commands and during conflicts.
“Operating without decision superiority is like a tourist driving in New York City without GPS; you may ultimately get where you need to go, but it won’t be efficient and may not be effective,” said Preston Dunlap, chief architect for the Air Force and Space Force.
The U.S. Air Force noted that the results of ADE 5 and its collaboration with the Global Information Dominance Experiment 3 and Pacific Iron 21 are influencing new operation and investment ideas in different programs and efforts.
These include the commercial satellite integration, the next release of Advance Battle Management System Capability, Rocket Cargo Vanguard and agile combat employment programs.
How will the JADC2 leaders link complex data systems and develop a digital infrastructure that can support the future operations of the DOD?
Join the Potomac Officers Club’s Building the Future Battle: The Keys to JADC2 event on Aug. 31 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time to hear from GovCon and government executives about the basic principles necessary to achieve a tactical edge, common data fabric and advantage in decision-making. Click here to register.
