CJADC2 | AI and Global Data Sharing with our Allies
- John Moors
- Dec 13, 2024
- 2 min read
The Challenge
To make decisions requires information. But when the scale of operations expands not just to countries, but across the entire globe (and into space itself), how do we ensure we can share essential intel between our own military branches and allies?
And how to we ensure that Command and Control (“C2”) not only can be effectively managed with our allies, but across all domains (Land, Sea, Air, Space, and Cyber)?
CJADC2 is part of a long-running initiative by the DoD to tackle these kinds of problems, with both the government and private sector stepping in to assist.
What We’ve Done So Far (JADC2)
The U.S. has actually been tackling the problem (at this scale with these kinds of tools since roughly 2018). The CJADC2 is an expansion on the JADC2, which had a smaller scope and focused on our own internal branches rather than allies.
The U.S. has run tests on the JADC2 program as well. Check out my article on the JADC2 for that background.
Next, with CJADC2, the program will prioritize coordinating with allies and ensuring interoperability standards across nations. The system must be adaptable, as well as ruggedized for conflict.
What Kind of Tech
Humans can only acquire and digest data so quickly, and as we’ve seen in the defense and civilian sectors, AI and Machine Learning can execute similar tasks in fractions of the time. For us, that’s an advantage worth taking all by itself. But when pitted against a near-peer adversary who has access to the same tools? Suddenly it’s not just important, it’s absolutely critical.
CJADC2 aims to leverage those kind of technologies and advanced networking to not only allow our branches and allies to work together, but do so with critical data being effectively pushed to decision makers as soon as they need it.
The Future Challenges
Siloed data systems remain a hurdle. Not to mention that many of the Defense platforms (Ships, Aircraft, Advanced Ground Vehicles, Drones, etc.) do not always come with the functionality to share data with each other at all. When all of these platforms need to work together, the system must be ready and robust.
As always, the faster and more easily data can be shared the more likely that security could be compromised. Balancing the speed we need for closing kill-chains with the cybersecurity we need for operational protection will be no small feat.
Shout-Outs:
Much of my news digest comes from the below resources, and I would highly recommend them to anyone wanting to keep apprised of Aerospace & Defense news:
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