Key Takeaways on Key U.S. Military Integration Program for Entrepreneurs and Investors
Cameron Hamilton is one of our grIP Venture Studio active members and he serves as the Managing Director of the Defense and Government Services Group at FON Corporate Finance. Prior to joining FON, he spent 19 years at The McLean Group, where he was instrumental in more than 75 successful sell- and buy-side M&A and capital formation engagements. Stout’s Investment Banking group provides mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory, capital market financing, and other financial advisory services to portfolio companies of private equity firms, closely held or family-owned businesses, and divisions of large corporate parents. They have donde a very good job at outlining key takeaways From the Army’s Project Convergence Capstone 4
In 2020, the U.S. Army launched its first Project Convergence exercise with the aim of further integrating the Army into the Joint Force(1), assessing the impact of emerging technologies on joint operations, and informing the Army’s approach toward improving and modernizing inter-service capabilities. Since its inception in 2020, Project Convergence has grown to encompass all branches of the U.S. military, as well as the militaries of U.S. allies and partners. The Army hosted Project Convergence Capstone 4 (PC-C4), its fourth set of Project Convergence exercises, from February 23 to March 20 at Camp Pendleton and Fort Irwin, both in Southern California. PC-C4 brought together over 4,000 service members and civilians from Australia, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S.
Project Convergence – and the capability set it aims to advance – is closely tied to the DoD’s push toward increased connectivity between sensors and weapon systems across service branches, embodied in the Pentagon’s Combined Joint All Domain Command & Control (C-JADC2) framework. This year’s exercise was focused on preparing for a conflict in the Indo-Pacific. This focus was underscored by the participation of key allies in the region, including Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. PC-C4 participants tested technologies aimed at addressing the logistical challenges inherent in coordinating across the vast distances of the Pacific, and the tactical challenges of littoral and amphibious combat.
Exercises took place across two phases: Phase 1 was hosted at Camp Pendleton from February 23 to March 3 and was joint-focused, while Phase 2 was hosted at Fort Irwin from March 11-20 and was primarily Army- focused. Core technological and strategic focus areas spanning both phases are detailed below.
I. Combined Joint All-Domain Command & Control (C-JADC2): An Overarching Theme
II. Integrated Sensors & Fire Capabilities
III. Data Processing and Data Transfer at Speed
IV. Aerial Tier Network Extension
V. Unmanned Vehicles + Manned-Unmanned Teaming Doctrine
Conclusions and Takeaways
The capability set highlighted above provides industry participants with an instructive roadmap of areas that are likely to receive continued operational focus – and continued budget priority – from the U.S. Army and the Joint Force in the coming years. While these capabilities are applicable across theaters, many share the common theme of addressing critical needs in the context of a hypothetical conflict around Taiwan.
Ultimately, these capabilities are interrelated – the C-JADC2 concept, in particular, serves as a common thread underpinning the others: enhanced systems integration, faster data sharing, more resilient situational awareness architecture, and the evolution of doctrine around new unmanned technologies are all being undertaken with the common aim of streamlining battlefield decision-making and accelerating the delivery of effects across domains.
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Cameron Hamilton
Managing Director
Stout