According to the recently issued Congressional Report Service (CRS) In Focus bulletin,
Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) is the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) concept to connect sensors from all of the military services - Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force—into a single network. Traditionally, each of the military services developed its own tactical network that was incompatible with those of other services (i.e., Army networks were unable to interface with Navy or Air Force networks). DOD officials have argued that future conflicts may require decisions to be made within hours, minutes, or potentially seconds compared with the current multiday process to analyze the operating environment and issue commands. They have also stated that the Department’s existing command and control architecture is insufficient to meet the demands of the National Defense Strategy (NDS). (CRS, 2020; emphasis added)
JADC2 has been involved in two exercises: the first in December 2019 focused on a simulated cruise missile scenario; and the second in July 2020 involved U.S. Air Force aircraft working with U.S. Navy and other naval ships in the Black Sea.
In August of this year, the Air Force awarded a $950 million contract to Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) "for maturation, demonstration and proliferation of capability across platforms and domains, leveraging open systems design, modern software and algorithm development to enable the USAF [JADC2] programme," according to a report by Monch Publishing Group.
A copy of the JADC2 report is available from the CRS.
Sources
- Hoehn, J. R. (2020, November 16). In Focus: Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). Congressional Research Service. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11493
- Monch Publishing Group. (2020, August 12). EW/C4I: SAIC AND USAF PATNER FOR JADC2. https://www.monch.com/mpg/news/ew-c4i-channel/7334-%20sa%20ic%20-%20a%20n%20d%20-%20usa%20f-%20pa%20rtn%20er%20-f%20or%20-%20jad%20c2%20.%20ht%20ml