Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks is scheduled to travel to California next week where she will receive an in-depth look into the department’s advanced joint, all domain command and control, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said today.
Hicks departs on Sunday for a multiday visit to California to meet with service members and observe Project Convergence Capstone 4, an Army-led joint, multinational experiment taking place at Camp Pendleton and at Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin.
The experiment will showcase the Pentagon’s approach to delivering decision advantage to warfighters through Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2, Ryder said, and give the deputy secretary a firsthand look at the capability in action.
“Viewing this experimentation will enable Deputy Secretary Hicks to gain better insight into the challenges that impact [CJADC2] implementation across our joint force and the outcomes of experimentation exercises,” he said.
CJADC2 is the department’s approach to developing both material and non-material solutions to deliver information and decision advantage to commanders.
The department aims to apply the CJADC2 approach across all warfighting domains to give warfighters the edge in deterring and, as necessary, defeating adversaries anywhere throughout the globe.
Ryder said Project Convergence will give warfighters the opportunity to experiment with technology at the operational level and further refine methods for synchronizing as a joint force.
Hicks’ visit follows her announcement that the Pentagon has delivered its initial iteration of CJADC2.
The initial version is a minimum viable capability combining software applications, data integration and cross-domain operational concepts designed to give commanders critical decision advantage.
“The minimum viable capability for CJADC2 is real and ready now,” Hicks said during the keynote address at Advantage DOD 2024: Defense Data and AI Symposium, a three-day event, earlier this month, hosted by the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office in Washington.
Hicks noted CDAO’s critical role in getting the initial iteration across the finish line, after being challenged last summer to deliver a minimum viable capability in a matter of mere months.
The department intends to build on the success, Hicks said, to deliver the capability at scale.
“Our goal is to be ahead of the curve, not chasing the curve,” she said. “CDAO will play a critical role in this next phase of our development, but so too will our operators and research, development and acquisition professionals throughout the Defense Department.”
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