The US Army is gearing up for its fifth iteration of Project Convergence, where soldiers will evaluate the service’s future command and control (C2) architecture to determine its effectiveness, according to a senior leader overseeing the initiative.
Currently, the Army faces significant challenges as it works to overcome network issues and is implementing a multi-pronged strategy aimed at providing soldiers with a unified, streamlined architecture for seamless communication. As part of this effort, the Army is upgrading its existing network under the C2 Fix initiative, while also pursuing a more ambitious plan known as either C2 Next or Next Generation C2 (NGC2).
Still in the early development stages, this new prototyping initiative will include a single array, both line-of-sight and beyond line-of-sight terminals, modular RF communications software, and capabilities for edge computing. Col. Michael Kaloostian, the Army Futures Command’s (AFC) networks and security director for NCC2, is planning to have soldiers test the proof of principle during the Project Convergence capstone event scheduled for early next year.
“We are in the S&T [science and technology] phase, and we’re still conducting research and development on this project,” Kaloostian said in an interview with Breaking Defense on August 22. However, AFC head Gen. James Rainey has directed the team to test the new construct at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, during Project Convergence maneuver events.
“He wants to use it completely,” Kaloostian explained.
He later noted that C2 Next represents a “completely different” approach, essentially a “100 percent clean sheet” concept compared to the current network and C2 Fix. If the test is successful, senior leaders are likely to hand the prototyping project over to the AFC’s Network Cross-Functional Team for further testing.
That team is currently assembling requirements developers and assessing the budget needed, as well as working on the acquisition strategy, Kaloostian added.
A key aspect of the tentative plan involves delivering a “minimal viable product” to units by late 2025 for ongoing testing, before potentially rolling it out to soldiers in 2026.
“We’re going to learn with each step. It’s always going to be iterative because technology is always going to improve,” Kaloostian explained.
Although the Army has identified the key components of C2 Next, it is also seeking ways to introduce competition into the development of the new network. More information for interested vendors is set to be shared in mid-September when the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T) holds a virtual industry day.
