“This progress moves us closer to bi-directional, real-time data flow between the tactical edge and operational and strategic decision-makers,” CDAO officials wrote.

In response to questions about the document’s contents, a defense official confirmed on Wednesday that the office, in partnership with the joint force, recently closed out the thirteenth iteration of its Global Information Dominance Experiment (GIDE) series, which unfolded in conjunction with the Army’s Project Convergence Capstone 5 (PC-C5) event.

GIDE is rooted in the Defense Department’s aims to get new technologies and equipment into the hands of warfighters for iterative testing and refinement through distributed, digital experiments, sprints and military service-led exercises like PC-C5.

Early versions of the GIDE series launched in 2020 and were facilitated by U.S. Northern Command. But in 2022, Pentagon leadership under the Biden administration tasked the CDAO with revamping the effort to strategically enable capabilities that could help realize the U.S. military’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control warfighting construct. 

Since then, GIDE experiments have generally run approximately every 90 days.

In the CDAO document summarizing multiple takeaways from GIDE 13, officials wrote that PC-C5 “served as the first major exercise venue to demonstrate” the EDM line of effort, which the office awarded a production other transaction agreement for in fall 2024.

“EDM is a government-owned technology stack that enables tactical-level data distribution in disadvantaged, disconnected, intermittent and limited — or DDIL — communications environments through a resilient nodal architecture,” they wrote.

A defense official told DefenseScoop that the CDAO is deploying EDM nodes to tactical users and other key locations to ultimately assess the fusion of operational and tactical data and C2 capabilities.

In the EDM context, nodes essentially refer to physical points within the network that are typically near end users or information sources, where data is captured, processed, or stored. This allows for distributed, decentralized data transmission that could underpin future edge computing missions.

“Edge Data Mesh enables data integration and exchange across multiple networks and data formats, including in denied and degraded communications environments,” the defense official said.

“Core to this effort is the commitment to interoperability using Open DAGIR principles and deployed architectures. The government-owned software development kit allows rapid integration of mature and emerging systems and applications with the EDM architecture,” they added. 

Project Convergence is an Army-led experimentation venue that enables personnel from across the U.S. military services and key allies to train together and collaboratively work out various concepts for integration. Army officials have been transparent about their aims to see new capabilities stay with commands for continued use after Capstone 5. 

In the CDAO document, officials stated that the “Scenario B” portion of PC-C5 provided participants with “a critical opportunity to test and develop EDM interoperability with other mission command platforms in field conditions — which remained behind following the exercise’s completion and will continue to provide resilient tactical data transport in the [area of responsibility].”

Activities associated with that scenario were conducted in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility. They involved tech experiments with all of the service components at the combatant command level.

“We continue to demonstrate that one of the most effective ways to advance modern [command and control, or C2] capability is to exercise and experiment how we fight — on live networks, with live data, with daily users — and leaving behind capability after every exercise,” CDAO officials wrote.

Some of the other “wins” from GIDE 13 listed in the document include demonstrating the integration of third-party software into DOD’s data infrastructure, and integrating multiple third-party generative AI capabilities into existing operational contexts. 

“This significantly accelerates warfighters’ ability to process complex information, especially across maneuver, intelligence, fires, and logistics workflows, shortening decision-loops and ensuring we achieve decision advantage,” the document states.

The defense official did not answer DefenseScoop’s questions regarding the makers and use cases of those genAI assets that were tested in the GIDE 13 and PC-C5 experiments last month.

“GIDE events have incorporated GenAI capabilities supporting a variety of workflows. These capabilities are a subset of GIDE’s mission command software suite, supporting [combatant commands] outside GIDE experimentation, so operators can continue to refine how they use them without waiting for the next experiment,” the defense official said.

They confirmed that GIDE 14 will take place during the upcoming iteration of Pacific Sentry and “Joint Exercise SoCal in Indo-Pacom.”

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The work on the three-year production deal is estimated to be completed by November 2028. The production OTA was previously competed as a prototype other transaction, according to the DOD.

“The mesh is already operational across multiple services and combatant commands, delivering critical data that enables mission-relevant generative artificial intelligence (AI) solutions specifically tailored to the unique requirements of the warfighter. This agreement will accelerate the expansion of the mesh to increase access to decentralized, distributed and disconnected systems, and to power new insights and real-time decision making at the edge,” Anduril said in a press release.

Any U.S. military service or combatant command can leverage the new production OTA, according to the company.

The award comes as the Pentagon is pursuing an initiative known as Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), which aims to more effectively and efficiently connect the sensors, shooters and data streams of the U.S. military services and key allies. The CDAO is working to enable that warfighting construct with artificial intelligence capabilities and other digital tools.

Anduril’s “tactical Edge Data Mesh” offering is enabled by the firm’s Lattice Mesh software platform, which can connect with and operate on a variety of sensors, weapons, platforms and other systems, according to the contractor.

The firm describes the tool as a “decentralized networking capability that seamlessly distributes critical data across platforms, domains, and partners by intelligently prioritizing data paths to ensure the most efficient flow of critical data.”

Other DOD components have awarded contracts to Anduril for Lattice-related capabilities recently. Just last month, the company announced that the Space Force’s acquisition arm had awarded the organization a nearly $100 million contract to upgrade the service’s Space Surveillance Network (SSN) with Lattice software to enhance autonomous processing and distribution of data from a vast network of military space sensors.

The deal with the CDAO announced Tuesday comes as the Defense Department is pursuing next-generation drones and counter-drone technologies via initiatives like Replicator.

Anduril is touting Lattice as an enabler of “autonomous battle networks.”

“Warfighters at the edge will be enabled to publish and subscribe to data in support of time sensitive operations or where large numbers of manned, unmanned and autonomous systems must collaborate in contested environments to advance the mission,” according to Anduril’s press release. “The extensibility of this [Lattice] system allows Anduril and CDAO to add integrations to support command and control of autonomous systems and counter-autonomous systems.”

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In a new commercial solutions offering solicitation, DIU specifically asks for industry to pitch a capability that “can reliably and efficiently distribute data across multiple, geographically-dispersed network enclaves that can communicate with each other using routing protocols and devices.” The solution should also “allow for data sharing between different classification levels and prevent unauthorized access to data,” the solicitation says.

The DOD operates a complex information network environment comprised of more than 15,000 unclassified and classified networked and cloud environments around the globe, managed in a federated way by a host of different combatant commands, services, agencies and field activities.

That can lead to “surges, latency, and geographic dependence,” among other challenges, for the department when distributing data across networks, DIU explains.

“Furthermore, given the nature of operating in Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent and Limited Impact (DDIL) bandwidth areas, these issues are compounded and flood the network with retries when disconnected and re-transmissions of messages when connectivity is restored. This lack of control and management of data distribution results in inefficient usage of network resources and decreased performance for high priority mission data,” the solicitation reads.

To account for that, DIU wants an industry partner that can help prototype a data distribution capability called LightCycle “that will manage the transport and caching of data across a globally-distributed infrastructure using an asynchronous publisher-subscriber (Pub/Sub) messaging system.”

The unit lists a variety of requirements for what it envisions the prototype doing, including using government authentication methods and infrastructure, promoting data sharing across different classification levels, ensuring proper access controls to prevent unauthorized access to data, supporting integration with enterprise data meshes and/or API gateways to improve interoperability between systems, and monitoring network health and dynamically routing traffic to optimize performance, among other things. The organization also gives more specific requirements for network performance, data servicing, message brokering, caching, security and policy creation.

Vendor proposals are due Sept. 17.

While the solicitation doesn’t mention it, the Pentagon’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control warfighting construct needs such data-mesh capabilities. Last fall, the department’s Chief Digital and AI Office issued a request for information on industry capabilities that could support CJADC2’s “data integration layer” and help the Pentagon achieve its vision for connecting the various sensors, shooters and information streams of the U.S. military services, allies and partners under a unified network.

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The request for information was recently posted to the CDAO’s Tradewinds website.

The office has been tasked with developing a “data integration layer,” or DIL, to help the Pentagon achieve its vision for connecting the various sensors, shooters and information streams of the U.S. military services, allies and partners under a unified network. Officials refer to the concept as Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2).

“Warfighters continue to require the ability to maintain and improve the decision advantage through using a data centric approach for successful battlefield outcomes. DoD warfighters must be able to dynamically integrate and operate as one truly joint force. To inform possible future acquisitions and improve our operational advantage, the Department seeks information related to technologies designed to improve data visibility, simplify data connections, and automate data access for legacy and new globally distributed warfighting systems supported by the DIL,” the RFI states.

The Chief Digital and AI Office is eyeing commercial technologies that can be folded into a zero-trust cybersecurity model, which all Defense Department agencies are expected to implement by 2027.

“The CDAO considers a data mesh, implemented with zero trust, with compliments of open source, non-proprietary & proprietary software components, as potential implementation of the CJADC2 DIL target architecture. The CDAO is currently experimenting with these technologies to inform the Data Integration Layer concept and requirements. The CDAO seeks industry’s input on the current state of commercial data-mesh capabilities to inform the CJADC2 Data Integration concept, governance, and technical capabilities,” per the RFI.

A key goal of the office is to provide a globally connected but decentralized mesh services architecture with a strong data backbone that can operate in environments where communications are denied, disconnected, intermittent or limited.

The envisioned data integration layer is expected to support the rapid deployment and integration of apps, “algorithmic services” and AI tools; secure role and access-based identity management and controls to facilitate data exchanges with international partners; and object and entity distribution services delivered across multiple domains and network types using data tagging, parsing, certificate, Blockchain or “other accreditable technologies,” according to the CDAO.

“Ancillary services such as data management tools for the operation of resilient data mesh services, data ingest [and] curation, and source to end point security will be considered essential,” the RFI states. “This request will serve to inform the government’s technical and operational understanding of such a capability and how it might be acquired, deployed, sustained, and modernized.”

The office is asking industry for information about how their data-mesh capabilities can work across multiple classification levels and security domains; enable “fault tolerant” software architectures; be synchronized between cloud regions, cloud geographies, cloud providers, and on-prem resources in both connected and denied, disconnected, intermittent or limited environments; enable the transmission of high-priority data ahead of lower-priority data; and meet other needs.

Industry responses are due Nov. 28.

Lawmakers are pressing the organization to make progress with the initiative. The House version of the fiscal 2024 defense policy bill would require the CDAO, no later than March 1, to provide a plan and associated timelines for deploying and demonstrating a joint data integration layer prototype in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of operations, transitioning the technology to fielding by Indo-Pacom, and scaling that capability across the other combatant commands.

The Indo-Pacific is now the U.S. military’s top priority theater amid concerns about China’s military modernization and geopolitical competition in the region. The Defense Department wants to deploy cutting-edge technologies there to improve its force posture and operational prowess.

Congress has not yet passed the final version of the policy legislation.

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