Page 28 - FCW, May 2021

WHAT’S
NEXT
FOR
DOD
CLOUD(S)
INTEROPERABILITY
JADC2 IS THE PENTAGON’S ‘BIG BET,’ AND CLOUD IS ITS CORNERSTONE
Next-generation joint warfighting is impossible without connectivity and compute power at the tactical edge
By Lauren C. Williams and Troy K. Schneider
For America to keep its military edge in the coming decades, the Biden administration will have to make big bets on technology, from autonomous systems to cybersecurity, according to a former defense official.
Michèle Flournoy, who previously served as undersecretary of defense for policy and is now co-founder and managing partner at WestExec Advisors, said the Pentagon’s investment in Joint All-Domain Command and Control must be a key focus in the next four years. JADC2 is essentially a web of interconnected networks linking together military services and partners.
“The currently programmed force is not going to keep our edge over the next decade, and we will gradually lose our con- fidence in our ability to deter,” Flournoy said at The Future of Defense Summit hosted by The Hill in March. That situation has resulted from over-investment in legacy systems and under- investment in new technologies and capabilities, she added.
Furthermore, the cyber environment is becoming more con- tested and prone to disruption, which increases the need for resilient and survivable systems. “That means we have to build a resilient network of networks, which is really what Joint All- Domain Command and Control is all about,” Flournoy said. “That needs to be one of the big bets that the Pentagon places in the next four years if it’s going to have what it needs to deter in the next 40.”
JADC2’s success depends on enterprise cloud technology. The
An FCW staff report
“Cloud is a fundamental component of the global infrastructure that will empower the warfighter with data and is critical to maintaining our military’s technological advantage,” the Defense Department’s Cloud Strategy declares.
What that means in practice, however, can vary widely based on the mission and the mission owner. And although the much- discussed Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract continues to face legal challenges, the military is moving forward on multiple other fronts.
In the pages that follow, FCW looks at key cloud initiatives, both DOD-wide and military service-specific.
26 May 2021 FCW.COM