The U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) strategy has evolved into a concrete roadmap for hyper-connected warfighting across domains. Stretching from its strategic launch in mid-2021 to the debut of Combined JADC2 (CJADC2) initial capability in early 2024, this timeline charts the U.S. effort to field a resilient, all-domain C2 network. This article outlines key milestones and offers strategic context on how the Air Force integrates into the broader JADC2 implementation.
Strategy and Planning Phase – May 2021 Summit to Strategy Adoption
- January 2021: A foundational JADC2 summit at U.S. Strategic Command in Nebraska helped shape capability standards and transition the program from concept to plan.
- May 13, 2021: The Secretary of Defense formally signed the JADC2 Strategy, laying out the vision across the “sense,” “make sense,” and “act” functions, along with five Lines of Effort (LOEs), including data, human and technology enterprises, nuclear integration, and mission partner information sharing.
Implementation Plan Finalized – March 2022
- March 15, 2022: Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks signed the JADC2 Implementation Plan, a classified document detailing resourcing, roles, milestones, and departmental responsibilities.
- March 18, 2022: Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Dennis Crall emphasized the plan’s role in harmonizing efforts across Services and Combatant Commands, ensuring that everyone “knows what everybody else is doing.”
Experiments and Infrastructure Development – 2020–2022
- December 2019 & July 2020: Early JADC2 test exercises, including ABMS demonstrations in Florida and multinational tests involving aircraft and ground systems, validated sensors-to-shooter concepts.
- 2021–2022: The U.S. canceled the one-vendor JEDI cloud in favor of a multi-vendor Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC), awarded in late 2022 to multiple tech providers—forming the backbone for JADC2’s data fabric.
Service-Level Integration and Network Prototypes – 2022–2023
- 2022:
- Air Force demonstrated Combined JADC2 (CJADC2) prototypes via Common Tactical Edge Network with nine contractors.
- Army’s Integrated Tactical Network Capability Set ’23 advanced JADC2 prototyping and data fabric connectivity using satellite (LEO/MEO) links.
Delivery of Initial CJADC2 Capability – February 2024
- February 2024: DoD announced delivery of the initial Combined JADC2 (CJADC2) capability, a “minimum viable capability” that includes software apps, data integration, and cross-domain operational concepts.
Ongoing Evaluation & Experimentation – 2023–2025
- 2023–2025: The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) hosted a series of Global Information Dominance Experiments (GIDE)—GIDE 1 through 11 by mid-2024—to refine CJADC2 systems. A future GIDE will run alongside Project Convergence Capstone 5 in early 2025.
- 2025 Report: The Office of the Inspector General assessed the effectiveness of CJADC2 efforts in mission partner information sharing, especially the adoption of data-centric security.
Context & Air Force’s Strategic Role
The Air Force plays a vital role in JADC2 through its Common Tactical Edge Network, contributing to CJADC2 prototypes and leveraging AI for real-time decision support. By tying into cloud infrastructure (JWCC) and coordinating with other Services’ science and experimentation initiatives, the Air Force helps ensure seamless sensor-to-shooter integration across all domains.
Timeline Summary
| Timeframe | Key Milestone |
|---|---|
| Jan–May 2021 | Strategy summit and adoption by Secretary of Defense |
| Mar 2022 | Implementation Plan signed, defining roles & milestones |
| 2020–2022 | Experiments (ABMS), network prototypes, JWCC build-out |
| 2022–2023 | Service-level CJADC2 development (Air Force, Army) |
| Feb 2024 | Delivery of initial CJADC2 capability |
| 2023–2025 | GIDE experiments & evaluation of mission partner sharing |
FAQs
JADC2 stands for Joint All-Domain Command and Control—a DoD initiative to connect sensors, shooters, and decision-making across all domains (land, sea, air, space, cyber) with AI-enabled automation.
Data enterprise, Human enterprise, Technology enterprise, Integration with Nuclear C2/C3, and Mission Partner Information Sharing.
Combined JADC2 (CJADC2) expands JADC2 to include coalition and partner collaboration. It’s not a program or system but a concept bundling U.S. and allied capabilities.
Yes— an initial CJADC2 capability, including software, data integration, and concepts, was delivered in February 2024
The DoD continues experiments (GIDE exercises), assesses mission partner integration, and refines security (data-centric models) toward fully operational CJADC2 across all domains.
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