Beyond actually developing innovative technologies, advancing the U.S. Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) effort means conducting nearly constant training exercises and test and evaluation events. As the geopolitical scene presents increasingly fraught, and wide-spread, military conflicts, it also means actually using elements of JADC2 in the real world to aid multi-national forces.
In April 2024, the U.S. Central Command made public the news that it was using and sharing JADC2 elements amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Without going into too much detail, officials divulged that they had been coordinating efforts through JADC2-developed technology to battle drone swarms, missile strikes and other threats in the region.
Earlier this year, from February 23 to March 20, a large-scale training event held at Camp Pendleton and Fort Irwin, California helped further the always evolving JADC2 effort. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France and Japan participated in this exercise alongside the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force.
Valued at over $9.5 billion over the next ten years, JADC2 is the U.S. Department of Defense’s concept to link existing and future sensors, shooters, and platforms across the land, air, sea, space, and cyber domains of multiple services. In this effort, any given platform serves as an intelligence and communications node, allowing warfighters to stay connected and to always have the latest battlefield information.
While there are numerous programs that support JADC2 in one way or another, the three biggest, most driving efforts are the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), the Army’s Project Convergence, and the Navy’s Project Overmatch.
Every year since 2020, the U.S. Air Force, as overall program leader, has been awarding contracts from an initial $950 million order to multiple U.S. companies in dozens of states – from technology research groups and manufacturers to management and consulting firms – for work related to advancing JADC2 and ABMS.
Such is the scope of JADC2 that its reach extends not only to future systems and technology, but also backwards to programs already in an advanced stage of development. These programs, such as the U.S. Navy’s Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES), have been given new impetus by the connectivity effort.
In December 2022, L3Harris was one of eight firms selected for work related to a CANES 10-year, $4.1 billion contract. The contractors will share in CANES activity including the provision of computer hardware, software, spare parts, maintenance, and laboratory equipment for ships and submarines. The other contractors are BAE Systems; DRS Laurel Technologies; Management Services Group, doing business as Global Technical Systems; Leidos; Peraton; Serco; and VT Milcom.
Andrew Dardine is lead analyst for Forecast International's Defense Electronic Systems group. He is the primary author of Forecast International's Electronic Warfare Forecast and co-author of Electro-Optical Systems Forecast and C4I Forecast. Andrew is also a regular contributor to FI's Defense & Security Monitor blog, offering insights into developing technologies such as directed-energy and next-generation jamming systems. His analysis of such vital market areas as EO/IR systems and electronic countermeasures technology has been cited in Defense News, Aerospace Daily, and Bloomberg Businessweek, among other news media. He has also written about the electronic defense market for Aviation Week and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
