C4ISR –
Through the Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) campaign plan, the Department of Defense (DoD) seeks to reform policy, develop hardware and software systems, and train warfighters to command and control (C2) military forces across all domains in a globally integrated and sustained military campaign with U.S. allies and partners against any fully committed peer adversary. However, the DoD needs to overcome existing political, economic, social, and technological barriers, foster innovation, and improve partnerships with industry to accelerate joint and combined integration and realize its CJADC2 objectives. This report, authored by twelve senior military officers and federal civilians, presents the observations of a seven-month study on the obstacles to CJADC2 progress and offers five executable recommendations to overcome those obstacles and meet the DoD’s CJADC2 goals.
CJADC2 efforts began in the late 2010s as independent projects led by service-specific organizations to enable multi-domain operations. Although Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks recently tasked the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) to lead the CJADC2 campaign, relevant projects and programs remain distributed across every military service and are primarily controlled by service-assigned executives. Organizations outside the DoD, such as those in the Intelligence Community (IC) and among international partners, also pursue CJADC2-like capabilities. The decentralized leadership, messaging, and control of CJADC2 initiatives thus inhibit coordinated pursuit toward common goals. Additionally, overly restrictive security policies, incompatible legal authorities between organizations, and constraining technology transfer laws slow CJADC2 progression.
Qualities of the C2 industry also introduce barriers. Defense-focused firms that can deliver CJADC2 solutions seek long-term, high-value contracts, but CJADC2-related work has thus far earned firms relatively low-value contracts. Small innovative firms specializing in advanced software face significant barriers to entry when trying to work with the DoD. They cannot afford to commit resources to long, drawn-out government bidding processes. All firms express concerns about intellectual property and open-system architectures, which are needed to enable CJADC2.
After their field studies, the authors identified seven severe obstacles to the CJADC2 campaign [O1-7]:
O1. Decentralized Power and Doctrine Differences. Multiple government organizations, each with different doctrines and incentives, lead CJADC2 efforts.
O2. Outdated Information Security Policies. Existing policies prevent critical information from reaching decision-makers at relevant speeds.
O3. Incompatible Authorities in Law. U.S. Code prevents military commanders from accessing certain information gathered by the Intelligence Community.
O4. Constraining Technology Transfer Laws. Allies and partners are sometimes denied access to C2 technologies and cannot contribute to CJADC2.
O5. Technically Complicated Data Standards. Standard data formats must be future-proof and compatible with a huge inventory of existing systems simultaneously.
O6. Misaligned Industry Incentives. Defense firms traditionally prefer high-value, long-term hardware-centric projects, while CJADC2 leaders seek low-cost, open-source, software-centric solutions.
O7. Complexities Integrating Allies and Partners. Navigating a web of diplomatic agreements and relationships with allies and partners to align CJADC2 efforts and ensure interoperability is a wicked problem.
If left unmitigated, these impediments will significantly delay the fielding of CJADC2 capabilities or degrade the effectiveness of CJADC2 activities.
The authors offer five recommendations to overcome the obstacles that hinder the development and fielding of CJADC2 capabilities [R1-5]. These recommendations include:
R1. Sprint toward a Data Enterprise. Accelerate creating and enforcing connectivity standards across the DoD, IC, alliances, and partnerships to form a data enterprise that underpins a robust network of information-sharing systems.
R2. Apply Portfolio Management. Manage CJADC2 capabilities as a portfolio to maximize efficiency and accelerate fielding.
R3. Establish a Central Program Office. Establish a CJADC2 program office to centralize oversight, simplify coordination, and clarify messaging.
R4. Reform Laws and Policies. Reform information management and security policies to enable sharing between all information users.
R5. Adopt Enabling Technologies. Adopt artificial intelligence and other enabling technologies into CJADC2 systems to create an enduring decision-making advantage.
Although implementing these recommendations incurs risks, particularly because they rely on coordination between the Executive and Legislative branches of government, they will deliver a solid technical foundation, a centralized and empowered management office, and policies that permit necessary information transfer.