Joint Staff eyes progress in MPE integration into JACD2 initiatives

The US Department of Defense and service branches are working to integrate a nascent data sharing initiative, designed to link the United States Armed Forces and their global allies during future coalition operations into the Pentagon’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) initiative.

US commanders are focusing on data exchanges at the secret and below releasable level for the Mission Partner Environment (MPE), with plans to test and evaluate those efforts at the next iteration of the multinational Bold Quest exercises, said Joint Staff Chief Information Officer US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Dennis Crall. The exercises represent the premier staging ground for demonstrating joint capabilities in linking sensor and shooter platforms across multiple domains.

“We have laid the foundation for that” evaluation of the MPE at Bold Quest, scheduled for this fall, with Pentagon and Joint Staff leaders embarking on a series of five ‘sprint’ development goals that will culminate in the multilateral military exercise, Lt Gen Crall said during an AFCEA International-sponsored webinar on information dominance in the Indo-Pacific region. Part of that MPE development strategy will include working to ensure the programme becomes a critical component of the JADC2 effort.

“We have made a commitment to our partners, especially our Five Eye partners, that we will not do [MPE] as a bolt on. We will do this in real time as we develop what is now shaping up to be the key elements” of JACD2, Lt Gen Crall said, referring to the Five Eyes’ international intelligence consortium consisting of the US, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.