Tech Modernization Will Not Function in Isolation, Defense Leaders Say

An interconnected military force means that modernizing in isolation is a “fool’s errand,” Defense Department Command, Control, Communications and Cyber (C4) leaders said at the 2024 AFCEA TechNet Indo-Pacific conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Officials spoke on service-specific C4 modernization initiatives amid the broader concept of combined all domain and control (CJADC2) that emphasizes making information available anywhere and anytime across the mission partner environment.

When it comes to tech modernization, “form needs to follow function,” said Army Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. John Morrison.

“None of the services can afford to go into six different combatant command [areas of responsibility] where the architecture is fundamentally different,” Morrison said. “There’s a lot of synergy that we can gain … that if we bring all of our capabilities to bear, we know inherently as a joint combined force, we’re far more effective than if we’re just the Army, the Air Force, the Marines, the Space force or the Navy.”

Col. Nathan Vosters, director of requirements, resources, and programs (S8) for Space Forces – Indo-Pacific, emphasized that bespoke and insular systems will no longer be part of the military’s cybersecurity posture.

Vosters instead said that in emerging domains like space, not only will the military have to work together within its branches, it will also need to construct a hybrid system that collaborates with industry.

“The intent there is looking at it as not a military only and not a commercial only, but a hybrid approach, so that we can capitalize on the speed of innovation of industry to incorporate cutting edge technologies at a speed and a pace which keeps us more secure than what our adversaries are trying to do,” Vosters said.

According to Vosters, the paradigm shift on the time it takes to launch satellites into space has meant that the Space Force has to keep up with a commercial sector that is constantly sending and taking down satellites from orbit.

Robert Wolborsky, chief engineer at the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR), said the Navy must leave the old tech refresh cycle behind and focus more on delivering and developing smaller capabilities to the warfighter at speed.

Wolborksy pointed to industry as a leader for fielding new capabilities and said that NAVWAR will look toward the commercial sector to guide it away from “sunk cost” policies and adjust its risk.

“Sometimes somebody’s in the approval chain, they don’t want to take any risk because 18 years ago, they saw something bad happen. We kind of got to get over ourselves. We’ve got to address the process, the procedural environment that we live in, and attack anything that doesn’t really add value and contribute to delivering that warfighting capability that our warfighters need,” Wolborsky told the audience.