New Award Complements $100M Anduril Contract as Army Pursues Agile, Software-Based C2
The Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a $26 million Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract to develop an integrated data layer as part of its Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) initiative, according to a recent Army announcement.
“Next Generation Command and Control is about accelerating transformation and optimizing the innovation of both industry and our warfighters to deliver critical Warfighting capabilities at speed,” said Jesse Tolleson, acting assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology.
The OTA, awarded to Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems and its team, is aimed at delivering the integrated data layer to the 25th Infantry Division within 16 months.
NGC2: Army’s Top Modernization Priority
NGC2 is the Army’s top modernization priority, designed to provide commanders and units with a new approach to managing information, data, and command and control using agile and software-based architectures. The initiative seeks to overcome the limitations of previous systems, where warfighting functions like intelligence and fires were siloed with bespoke systems that lacked interoperability, hindering situational awareness.
The Army’s horizontal operational design for NGC2 features a technology stack ranging from a transport layer to an integration layer, a data layer, and an application layer where soldiers interact with the system. This architecture breaks down traditional silos and integrates warfighting functions into applications that ride on a common, integrated backbone.
Building on Anduril Award
This award follows a nearly $100 million contract awarded to Anduril and its team in July to provide a prototype to the 4th Infantry Division, scaling the capability to the division level.
In March, the Army tested a previous NGC2 prototype with an armored battalion and higher headquarters, which officials called a „proof of principle.”
Encouraging Competition and Innovation
„This isn’t the end of competition, this is the beginning,” said Joseph Welch, deputy to the commanding general, Army Futures Command. „Through these two industry team lead agreements, we’ll evaluate different models for shared responsibility and aligned incentives during the NGC2 prototyping phase.”
The Army aims to establish a „durable partnership model” that keeps pace with the evolving tech sector and allows for continuous insertion of the best technology solutions. By encouraging companies to self-organize, team with each other, and integrate directly with the operational force, the Army intends to rapidly and continuously improve command and control capabilities.
Ongoing Commercial Solutions Offerings (CSO)
The new OTA was awarded through a commercial solutions offering (CSO) for NGC2 by the program executive office for command, control, communications and networks (PEO C3N). PEO C3N continues to work with vendors for future capabilities through CSOs, where companies can submit white papers for small or large slices of the NGC2 technology stack.
The intent is to onboard new capabilities and vendors if they offer a better solution than existing ones. Officials have emphasized the flexibility to onboard and offboard contractors and capabilities, especially if companies are not performing. This approach contrasts with previous programs that locked the government into specific vendors for extended periods.
C2 Fix: Bridging the Gap
The integrated data layer team under Lockheed Martin will enable the Army to assess NGC2 software options, supported by command and control transport and infrastructure capabilities.
C2 Fix was initially conceived as a bridge between legacy capabilities and NGC2, providing units with improved „fight tonight” capabilities. It now serves as a way to „buy down the risk” to NGC2.
Officials consider the activities with the 4th ID and 25th ID as parallel approaches to NGC2 prototyping, with some capabilities and architectures from C2 Fix, such as transport, potentially carrying over to support NGC2.
