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In the current military operations environment, agility is key. New emerging threats are frequent, and C4ISR has become an integral part in raising situational awareness and responding to these threats. One way to enhance situational awareness is the integration of diverse (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) ISR platforms. By introducing advanced ISR capabilities and systems, global security and military forces are able to improve real-time intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination capabilities, thus providing commanders with timely and actionable information to confront emerging threats.

Major General Matthew Jones is the Director ISR within Defence Intelligence for the UK Ministry of Defence, and is an expert on ISR platforms. Major General Jones started the role in August 2023, prior to that he was Head Military Strategy and Plans for the Ministry of Defense. This November, Major General Jones unit will be represented at IDGA’s C4ISR conference by Group Captain Keith Slack, Commander of the Defence Intelligence Training Group, but before the conference Major General Jones sat down with IDGA to discuss:

• Technology innovation in ISR platforms
• Responsible integration of ISR platforms
• What attendees can learn from UK Strategic Command at C4ISR

To hear from UK Strategic Command in person, as well as other ISR leaders from the US and its allies, be sure to register for the C4ISR summit this November 19-20 in Bethesda, Maryland. This two-day event will explore how the DoD and international partners are building out systems for Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), as well as feature discussions on the integration of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and big data analytics.

Project Convergence is the Army’s program of record to develop capabilities for the DoD’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) efforts. Starting in 2020 at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona, Project Convergence began as a way for the Army to evaluate progress it’s made in modernization efforts. By 2022, the project had expanded by adding the land armies of England and Australia in an effort to improve data sharing.

This article will provide:

• An overview and timeline of Project Convergence
• Findings from PC 2020, '21 & '22
• Results of the latest Project Convergence capstone this spring

If you want to hear from Army experts on Project Convergence, CJADC2 and other command and control efforts, register for IDGA’s C4ISR Summit from November 19-20 in Bethesda, Maryland. This two-day event will feature discussions on the integration of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and big data analytics, and discuss with senior military and government leaders how CJADC2 funding and program efforts, such as Project Convergence, are revolutionizing decision-making processes and enhancing operational effectiveness.

In the current global defense environment, militaries worldwide face evolving threats that constantly test strategic and operational strengths. The U.S. military, the largest in the world, is no stranger to foreign adversaries impeding its command and control capabilities. Due to these consistent threats, the US DoD views maintaining information and decision advantages as a top priority and has invested heavily in its CJADC2 strategy.

JADC2 is a DoD acronym that stands for Joint All-Domain Command and Control. In a 2022 summary of JADC2, the DoD describes the strategy as “the urgent need for a focused Departmental push on actions to empower our Joint Force Commanders with the capabilities needed to command the Joint Force across all warfighting domains and throughout the electromagnetic spectrum to deter, and, if necessary, defeat any adversary at any time and in any place around the globe.” This means a new approach to developing both material and non-material solutions to deliver information and decision advantage to commanders.

In 2024, JADC2 has evolved into combined JADC2, or CJADC2. The maturation into CJADC2 is intended to drive DoD organizations to operate in a globally and digitally integrated warfighting environment with allied nations such as the UK and Australia. In this report, we will analyze the latest updates on DoD CJADC2 efforts including:

• DoD releasing the initial iteration of a CJADC2 software platform
• The Indo-Pacific region's impact on CJADC2
• The latest Global Information Dominance Experiments (GIDE)

In the current global defense environment, militaries worldwide face evolving threats that constantly test strategic and operational strengths. The U.S. military, the largest in the world, is no stranger to foreign adversaries impeding its command and control capabilities. Due to these consistent threats, the US DoD views maintaining information and decision advantages as a top priority and has invested heavily in its CJADC2 strategy.

Ahead of the C4ISR USA Conference, the 2024 Snapshot of Attendees highlights the leading organizations within the industry and an extensive list of high-level attendees that will be attending this year.

This will explore how the DoD and international partners are building out systems for Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), a transformative concept enabling real-time information sharing, rapid decision-making, and seamless coordination across multiple domains.

Join our list to network with peers, forge strategic alliances, and gain the knowledge needed to achieve decision advantage in today's dynamic operational environments.

The “Capability Requirements to Meet Increasing Great Power Competition” presentation was delivered last year at C4ISR USA and covers:

• The Pacing Challenge
• Vision for Air Force Futures
• AF/A5/7 Center Lines of Effort
• Capability Development
• Changing Requirements Methods

At C4ISR USA, the United States Air Force HQ will return for 2024 where Major General Robert Claude, Mobilization Assistant to the Chief of Space Operations will deliver his presentation on “Space Sensor Integration into CJADC2: Enhancing Situational Awareness and Decision-Making”.

The “Transforming Joint Enablers for Future All Domain Warfare” presentation was delivered last year at C4ISR USA and covers:

• AFRL’s Integrated Capabilities
• Evolution of DAF Command & Control
• Synchronizing S&T and Experimentation
• Advancing DAF Battle Network

At C4ISR, Air Force Research Laboratory will return for 2024 where March Ohmer, Chief Engineer, Information Directorate will deliver his presentation on “Advancing Information Sciences: Enabling Future ISR Air Force Capabilities”.

IDGA's C4ISR USA Conference ill explore how the DoD and international partners are building out systems for Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), a transformative concept enabling real-time information sharing, rapid decision-making, and seamless coordination across multiple domains.

Join us to network with peers, forge strategic alliances, and gain the knowledge needed to achieve decision advantage in today's dynamic operational environments.

The importance of surveying the battlefield cannot be understated. The initial days of the War in Ukraine has shown how bad C4ISR can lead to disastrous results, as a result its an area that needs constant investment. C4ISR is particularly interesting because it crosses various divisions from counter insurgency to near-peer conflict ensuring it relevancy throughout modern forces. This market report breaks down the spending, programs and trends in C4ISR spending for the USA market.

In this interview Mr Matt Roper, Chief, Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance for the NCI delivers a one to one on the latest challenges and trends relating to C4ISR. From the Russo-Ukrainian War to the rise of China, he shares his views on how NATO is responding to an ever-changing world

The conflict in Ukraine represents a turning point in defense discourse, as it inverted conventional expectations primarily due to the Russian Forces' inability to perform effective C4ISR. This failure offers valuable C4ISR lessons for modern military strategy. However, the lackluster performance of Russian Forces today, compared to their capabilities in the 1980s, highlights how forces tend to change due to internal and external pressures, meaning the forces we face today may not be the same forces we face tomorrow. Justin Bronk, a Senior Research Fellow from RUSI, delivers his commentary on what the Russians are learning from these C4ISR lessons. He goes into:

• What led to the critical mistakes for Russia during the Ukrainian war?
• How does the lack of effective C2ISR lead to underperformance elsewhere, particularly when considering the multi-domain?
• How does this compare to western forces' capabilities?
  

The importance of C2ISR on the modern battlefield cannot be understated. While mobility and firepower hold their respective premiums; it is the ability to coordinate, sense, and target that mostly proves decisive. In this interview with Brian M. Mazanec from the Government Accountability Office insight is given into the government side of choosing and implementing C2ISR. Topics explored include:

• Current state and steps required for full implementation of JADC2

• Technologies that have caught GAO's attention

• Lessons from current wars

The multi-domain command and control (MDC2) concept is a central element of the US and Five Eyes efforts to sustain their competitive advantage across every domain in the theatre of operations. The considerations relative to this approach impact capability, doctrine and training for C2ISR in order to support the fielding of a lethal and agile joint force. 

Ahead of this year’s ISR & C2 Battle Management Forum, Defence IQ had the opportunity to gain exclusive insight from conference co-chair, Lieutenant General David A. Deptula (Ret.), Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Headquarters U.S. Air Force (2006-2010) on the main challenges the US and its Five Eyes partners are facing when seeking to apply MDC2 to an ever-more complex operating environment. 

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Key benefits of downloading the piece

• Gain insight into how to accelerate the application of multi-domain command and control in readiness for the future high-end joint fight by recognizing the challenges to tackle, as explained by Lieutenant General David Deptula, who will Chair this year’s ISR & C2 Battle Management 
• Learn more about how to integrate cyber within MDC2, and deliver a defence information architecture which is robust enough to sustain force integration and reach back in the CDO environment, which will be a key theme of this year’s ISR & C2 Battle Management 
• Maximize the application of AI, big data and machine learning to support the advanced processing and exploitation of data for the complex battlespace, which will be discussed in further details at ISR & C2 Battle Management 

Get a preview of the interview:

Defence IQ: General, can you give us your take on MDC2, and the path to realizing it across joint forces? How do you view the progress being made in this area?

Lt Gen Deptula: We are long past the point where we fight as individual service components. When we have to go to war, we fight as an integrated complex involving operations in every domain. Therefore, one has to have the means to provide command and control of all of those forces in all of those different domains, in order to ensure evenness of effort; that’s what MDC2 is all about.

As the US and its Five Eyes partners work to deliver capabilities which can enable multi-domain command and control and sustain a vital decision advantage, operators must leverage the innovation that their partners in industry are best-equipped to provide. 

In this exclusive interview conducted ahead of this year’s ISR & C2 Battle Management USA conference, Denis Donohue, Vice President Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Systems, shares insight on how industry can help the militaries sustain the warfighters’ edge in an era of peer challenges.

Download the interview now >>

Benefits of downloading the interview:

• Get a better understanding of the role of industry in delivering a resilient, agile and multi-domain ISR enterprise from Raytheon, which will attend ISR & C2 Battle Management USA
• Gain insight on the disruptive technologies that will be most critical in supporting C4ISR over the next decade
• Learn more about how industry can enable a more agile acquisition culture necessary to achieving the future C2ISR enterprise 

Below is a sample of questions DENNIS answers in this interview: 

• What do you view the Company’s role to be in delivering a resilient, agile and multi-domain ISR enterprise, which can support the US and its partners as they work to sustain the warfighter’s edge in an era of peer challenges in Highly Contested Environments?
  
• USAF is focused on Multi-Domain Command and Control (MDC2) and is implementing an enabling Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) Strategy. How is Raytheon addressing the need to develop an enduring Architectural approach to deliver enterprise wide modernization like the ABMS Strategy is endeavoring to do?
• The future C2ISR enterprise will depend on developing strong relationships between DoD’s contractors and those non-traditional defense companies which are already bringing innovation to bear in the commercial sector. Where do you see the opportunity in those relationships, and how might leading defense companies support the more agile acquisition culture necessary to enable them? 

The FY19 NDAA authorizes a $17 billion national defense budget and ISR & C2 technologies form a key part of defense spending across the Air Force, Navy and Army this year. New technologies in quantum computing, artificial intelligence, swarms and hypersonic weapons are set to change our mindset on C2ISR. Ahead of this year’s ISR & C2 Battle Management U.S.A. conference, we surveyed government and industry experts to share insights on key elements defining U.S. defense intelligence spending and multi-domain operations. The exclusive results of the survey will answer the following questions:

• Where does our greatest vulnerability lie in the C2ISR enterprise?
• Is the main inhibitor to realising multi-domain ISR and C2?
• Where is the key enabling technology to turn the multi-domain concept into capability?
• Concerning the U.S. FY19 budget, what are you most pleased to see investment in?
  
• Bearing these enabling technologies in mind, who would you say are the leading companies that are fielding some of the most promising solutions today?
  

This year, hear from leaders at the forefront of NATO’s modernization efforts, including Major General Matthew van Wagenen, SHAPE Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations (J2/J3/J36), NATO and Dr. Giorgio Cioni, Director, Armament & Aerospace Capabilities Defence Investment Division, International Staff, NATO. They will provide insights into priorities, challenges and future requirements that will help us to achieve the decision-advantage in contested environments.

The “PEO IEW&S Update” presentation was delivered at the 2022 C4ISR USA Conference Mr. Mark Kitz, Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors, United States Army and covers:

• Delivering IEW&s Capability
• PEO IEW&S Portfolio
• Modernization Alignment
• FY23 Focus Areas
• Hosted Engagements

This year, we will welcome Mr. Nicholaus Saacks, SES from the Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors, United States Army. Mr Saacks will be delivering unrivaled insights into key programs being delivered to give our soldiers the decisive edge.