America's Military Needs a Digital Defense Upgrade

Early on in my Navy career, I learned firsthand about the critical importance of protecting sensitive information in a challenging security environment. 

Shortly after our arrival for the site survey, we discovered that our hosts intended to challenge our ability to communicate in confidence privately.  We realized that every single word uttered, verbally or electronically, was monitored.  The Shanghai experience shows that communications must be guarded closely because rival powers like China will continually seek to undermine it even if it is mundane, let alone highly classified.

While getting the correct information to the right people at the right time sounds straightforward, information assurance is exceptionally challenging, especially in a contested environment with constantly evolving technology.  The risks are prevalent and pernicious, as evidenced by a string of high-profile and highly effective cyberattacks against tech and energy sector targets like SolarWinds, Yahoo, E-Bay, the Colonial Pipeline and more. 

Enter the Department of Defense's Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) strategy.  JADC2 is being designed to replace existing service-specific and joint command and control systems with one that connects and distributes sensor and shooter data across all domains (sea, air, land, cyber, and space) to U.S. military forces.

While many of the exact details of the JADC2 program remain classified, we are seeing signs that DoD is prepared to take this task seriously from an investment and integration standpoint by providing budget increases for participating armed services. However, since most of this funding is mixed into larger programs, the current budget falls short of what is needed to properly build out an integral part of the U.S. military’s future.

This 21^st century network will improve, protect and accelerate the decision-making process, significantly enhancing battlespace management.  "We see JADC2 [as] absolutely core to the way we're gonna defend the homeland," Air Force General Terrence O'Shaughnessy, Commander, U.S. Northern Command, recently explained.

Imagine highly advanced sensors deployed in submarines, on unmanned aerial drones, and integrated into Low Earth Orbit satellites feeding real-time data into a secure cloud-like environment accessible at command headquarters to make lightning fast yet well-informed decisions. Ensuring secure, reliable communications is essential for that mission's success. 

Considering intensified cyberattacks from China and Russia, either launched by government actors or criminal groups operating within their borders, plus increased regional aggression, the possibility of armed conflict involving U.S. forces begin to rise.                                                                    

Moreover, Americans should trust our defense industry to get it done because it is battle tested – successfully producing results for delivering secure communications over the decades. Our nation’s flashiest tech companies may be great about making headlines, but as we saw with massive breaches of their data, they aren’t so great at keeping that data safe. Or at least safe enough for the military during combat operations. It's just not their skill set or experience.

Finally, let's suppose the premise of today's Great Power Competition is a strategy of long-term investments to deliver advanced military capabilities to warfighters. If that is the case, the U.S. must take a whole-of-government approach with proven partners so that our military commanders are best prepared to win wars.  

To that end, JADC2 must be fully funded as a top priority for defense budgets.  With a 2022 defense budget request of $715 billion contrasted alongside conservative estimates for JADC2-related programs coming in at just over $1 billion, it’s a relatively small price to pay.  How much would it cost if our military lost the command and control edge toChina or Russia?

As the key player in the JADC2 strategy, Lt. Gen. Dennis Crall, USMC, Joint Staff J-6, noted this month during the Defense One Tech Summit, “we’re into the posture review, which is making the final rounds, which shows the gaps. We have a lot more gaps than we can cover… despite all the capability that we have, there’s a pretty long list of things that we believe we need to improve upon and really fulfill.”

It’s a good status update with a clear message.  And as the old adage goes, “there’s no time like the present.”

Rear Admiral Fernandez “Frank” Ponds, USN (Ret.) served 33 years in the U.S. Navy in senior executive, operational, and managerial positions leading joint and multinational military and civilian organizations during complex military operations.