Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said his legislation “enables the right people and programs" in the Pentagon's JADC2 effort. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
New bill aims to speed up JADC2
The proposed legislation would assign new responsibilities to specific Pentagon officials and aim particularly to improve rollout in the Indo-Pacific.
Lawmakers are trying to speed up the Pentagon’s effort to streamline information-sharing across its military domains, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.
A proposal introduced in the House on Nov. 27 by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., attempts to improve the rollout of the Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or JADC2, initiative by assigning components of the department “certain responsibilities for the delivery of essential integrated joint warfighting capabilities.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
JADC2 aims to combine information from disparate military environments, including those across air, land, sea and cyberspace.
The Joint All-Domain Command and Control Implementation Act would give specific DOD officials “the authority and resources they need to prototype cutting-edge technology and put it straight into the hands of front-line operators,” according to a press release from Issa’s office.
The bill would hand new responsibilities to the deputy chief technology officer for mission capabilities — part of the office of the defense undersecretary for research and engineering — including for “identifying new technology and operational concepts for experimentation and prototyping for delivery to the Joint Force to address key operational challenges.”
The bill would task the chief digital and artificial intelligence officer with “creating and operating a factory-based approach for software development that allows for iterative, secure and continuous deployment of developmental, prototype and operational tools and capabilities.”
While the bill seeks to speed up DOD’s overall JADC2 deployment, it would “prioritize the requirements” of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. This includes requiring the chief digital and artificial intelligence officer, in consultation with other DOD officials, to submit a report to Congress by March 1, 2024, outlining, in part, “a plan and associated timelines for deploying and demonstrating a joint data integration layer prototype” for INDOPACOM.
The report would also be required to include a plan “for reaching initial operational capability for a joint data integration layer” across the combatant command, as well as “an assessment of the required type and number of personnel at the United States Indo-Pacific Command to enable sustained growth in JADC2 capabilities.”
DOD released its JADC2 implementation plan in March 2022, saying that the modernization effort would enable U.S. forces “to ‘sense,’ ‘make sense’ and ‘act’ on information across the battle-space quickly using automation, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and machine learning to deliver informed solutions via a resilient and robust network environment.”
In 2021, Issa voted to overturn U.S. election results.