JADC2 | Joint All-Domain Command and Control

A visualization of the Pentagon's Joint All-Domain Command and Control concept, which aims to better connect sensors and shooters across vast distances. (Photo provided/Raytheon Technologies) [Defense News]

Communication To Win

Photo by Joel Rivera-Camacho on Unsplash

For all militaries, sharing information quickly between locations is an essential part of warfare. Once a military has scale, with multiple branches and specialties, having these groups effectively share their evolving data with each other now takes on a new level of challenge.

The U.S. military has now complex levels of actors, each generating a tonnage of info. A satellite, a suite of drone sensors, and a recon team could all have information products to add to the overall tactical picture.

But what are those products, and how complex?

Essential Intel

The complexity and volume of data that we soak up from the battlefield is immense. From a recon report to thermal scans, photogrammetry, and weather, the information can be incredibly varied and shared in a large breadth of formats. But all these types could be what the leadership needs to understand the threat on a large scale.

So, for a sensor’s data, how do we ensure it doesn’t just get tossed to a laptop on the ground, but can arrive at a decision-maker's fingertips in time for tactical expedience?

And how do the Marines ensure that, say, their nearby Army counterparts are quickly aware of the results of a recon mission? How would this info truly be handled in a multi-domain scenario?

The Scope of JADC2

This was intended for the United States military. But not much time would pass before this mission was expanded to include our allies (see CJADC2 at the end of this article)

The Proposed Solution

Image Credit: Gen “Mobile” Holmes- Alamo ACE 2019

In the early 2010’s, an effort was made to take the ever-growing data streams and focus on bringing them across multiple gaps between the below (along with others) for the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) program.

Sensors
Platforms (e.g. aircraft, ground vehicles, and drones)
Branches (e.g. Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force...)

The How

Source: DOD Summary of the Joint All-Domain Command & Control (JADC2) Strategy, March 2022

Source for Above Photo: (JADC2) Strategy, March 2022

The National Defense priority became creating a network that could take on these challenges. As time has gone on, incorporating machine learning / AI tools has become a tactic to achieve the same.

The scale of the issue was of course massive. To manage data and access it quickly meant looking to private industry for a cloud-based network. Companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle stepped up. AI was pulled in for the Air Force as well.

Then, like with all things, the systems needed to be tested, as they continue to be today.

July 2020 | Joint Operations Test

The Joint Staff’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control Campaign Plan Experiment 2 allowed Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines nodes to share near-real time information to enable sensor to shooter linkages and display it on a common operational picture. (U.S. Army Joint Modernization Command) [Breaking Defense]

In joint exercises, this system was put to the test with naval, air, and special operations groups, giving the DoD the chance to both evaluate and refine the system. [CRS Report on JADC2]

This exercise marked a pivotal moment in JADC2 development, showcasing its potential to synchronize operations across multiple branches in real-time.

The Future

As mentioned, before long the mission was expanded to include our allies.

The challenge was similar, how can we incorporate the same goals but now expanding to multiple nations across the globe?

For any conflict this would be important, but for stepping up to a near-peer adversary, it would be paramount.

To expand this to allied nations, Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) began in 2022. By incorporating allies, CJADC2 ensures that the U.S. and its partners maintain strategic superiority in increasingly contested environments.

Learn how JADC2 evolved into CJADC2, a game-changer for global allied operations.

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