Breaking the Barriers to Deliver JADC2

Sinking ships on the modern battlefield is a difficult proposition. Joint forces must flawlessly execute each step of the joint targeting process, known as Find, Fix, Target, Track, Engage, Assess, or F2T2EA. Adversaries maintain layered and integrated anti-access/aerial denial (A2/AD) systems that challenge each step of this process, while holding traditional platforms at risk just beyond the range of our offensive weapon systems.

Enemy A2/AD weapons have been purposely designed to defeat single-service or single-domain solutions. U.S. forces and their closest partners and allies must rely on novel, unexpected, cross-domain sensing and shooting capabilities to effectively dismantle A2/AD networks. This realization has inspired collaboration across the five services to design, develop, experiment and field technologies that enable Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2).

JADC2 is a tenet of the Joint Warfighting Concept that outlines how the Joint Force will orchestrate complex, multi-domain kill webs. JADC2 is not a tangible capability; rather, it is a philosophy of how U.S. forces can seamlessly pass data at machine speed to and from the tactical edge to achieve unprecedented interoperability. The concept demands the seamless integration of sensors and weapons systems - regardless of which service owns them - through reliable networks and assured communications capable of operating in disconnected, degraded, intermittent or limited environments. Finally, JADC2 leverages real-time, correlated data backed by artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms for streamlined filtration and dissemination.

Without an overarching Concept of Operations for JADC2, however, there is a question on how the U.S. Department of Defense and industry can move in the right direction in focusing, targeting, building, testing and delivering the required capabilities, Sean Stackley, L3Harris vice president of Strategy & Growth, said in a JADC2 panel discussion hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association in July.

Currently, each U.S. military service is operating under its own JADC2 Concept of Operations, its own data formats, its own protocols - even its own communication systems and frequencies, Dana Mehnert, L3Harris president of Communication Systems, said. Even though they may seem like it's the same thing, using two different data formats makes systems incompatible.

The joint force needs a system that translates, correlates and simplifies the data fabric to create clear lines of communications across all services and platforms.

L3Harris is exceptionally well positioned to advise customers as to which investments will provide the most resilience and capability in support of their Concept of Operations, Mehnert said. We have multiple options for various size, weight and power requirements that deliver the technology and skills that bring disparate nodes into a single network, leveraging modern crypto and cross-domain solutions, and employing multiple layers of security.

SITREP The main hurdle for the U.S. Department of Defense to overcome in creating a true JADC2 operational environment is the siloed and incompatible information-sharing systems the disparate services currently use, according to Ken Harrison, L3Harris Technologies senior director of Business Development. While creating a piece of equipment to ensure compatibility with other service's systems might seem tempting, that sort of forced entry is not true interoperability.

To ensure all sensors in the battlespace can communicate with every weapons platform available, everyone needs to be on the same sheet of music.

The services are not there yet, and it will take some change and adaptation by service elements to restructure how they disseminate information so that it makes sense and allows commanders to make decisions and provide action with the information they receive, Harrison said.

The U.S. Army, for example, is just starting its radio fleet modernization effort, and the service is limited in how fast it can deploy next-generation assets by where it can and needs to allocate its budget.

The U.S. Air Force, meanwhile, is projecting a force posture for the future that extends the battlespace to longer ranges. This is because the next high-end fight will be an away game,' Ron Fehlen, L3Harris vice president and general manager of Air Force and Advanced Unmanned Aerial System programs, said.

Not only do we have to counter their air assets, they're going to have a significant amount of ground capability that is part of their infrastructure that we would have to overcome, he continued. Their advances in those ground and air and cyber systems are on par with the kind of things that we have. Our traditional big-wing airborne command and control nodes will need to be farther away from the fight, requiring more networked warfare.

In consideration of its needs to face such a threat, the air service is keenly aware that DOD-wide engagement and collaboration is necessary.

As the Air Force develops [Advanced Battle Management System] in our effort to achieve information and decision advantage by delivering relevant data, information and capabilities to warfighters at all echelons, we must work together with our sister services and the DOD to ensure we connect our sensors and platforms and share our data as part of a joint force, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. said in June, according to ExecutiveGov.

This will necessitate an inventory of large, expensive platforms operating in tandem with small expendable assets, Drake said. It further requires both receiver and transceiver capabilities on those disposable vehicles to relay time-critical information across the battlespace.

To that end, the Air Force assembled a consortium of industry partners to define the requiremen

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