US Army awards $93.6m for NGC2 applications

The US Army has awarded nine technology companies contracts worth approximately $93.6 million collectively to deliver applications for its Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) programme, advancing the system from division-level prototyping towards wider operational deployment. The initial awards cover one year and will support software functions across command and control, fires, intelligence, movement and manoeuvre, sustainment, and protection. I Corps is the next formation designated to receive the applications as the Army expands its modernised command architecture.

The recipients are General Dynamics Mission Systems, Air Space Intelligence Federal, Immersive Wisdom, LMI Consulting, Mente Systems, Stilman Advanced Strategies, Onebrief, Rune Technologies and AIR, the company previously known as Govini. Their applications will contribute to a common software environment incorporating commercial products, government-developed systems and capabilities informed by soldiers during testing. The Army has not published individual contract values or a complete allocation of technical responsibilities among the nine recipients, although the combined initial award value is approximately $93.6 million.

The NGC2 architecture is intended to replace fragmented arrangements in which individual warfighting functions rely on different information systems and applications. Under the new architecture, a common data layer provides information that software can use across the wider formation, allowing applications to support planning, coordination and operational decisions. Instead of transferring information repeatedly between unrelated systems, the Army is developing an environment where compatible applications can obtain data through shared services. The programme also incorporates communications and computing infrastructure needed to make those functions available to personnel operating at different locations.

The latest procurement concentrates on the application layer, which is distinct from the underlying data, computing and communications elements. An application may present operational information, support planning or provide tools for assessing available resources, while relying on shared infrastructure to obtain the information it needs. The new awards will add software functions to capabilities already provided by Anduril, Palantir, Raft and Striveworks, whose work includes the data layer and core artificial intelligence functions. These companies’ earlier contractual arrangements are separate from the new collective application awards.

Applications using a common data layer have to interpret shared records consistently, particularly when measurements originate in different systems or arrive at different times. Location, timing, equipment status and other operational records may originate in different systems, each developed for a particular task. Combining those records is useful only when the receiving application understands what the information represents and whether it is current. The NGC2 data architecture is intended to support that exchange, while developers must ensure their applications can operate with the approved services and maintain the integrity of the information presented.

The six functions supported by the awards depend on overlapping information, from unit movement and intelligence to sustainment, fires and protection. Planning movement may depend on intelligence and the availability of equipment, while sustainment decisions are influenced by location, demand and the resources available across different formations. Applications developed for these functions can support coordinated decision making when the necessary information is accessible through the same architecture. However, a shared data environment does not remove the need for commanders and specialist personnel to interpret the information and exercise their respective responsibilities.

Development work during the preceding year involved the 4th Infantry Division and 25th Infantry Division, where soldiers and industry teams evaluated applications under operational training conditions. Their experience informed the requirements used for the latest awards, allowing the Army to select capabilities following practical experimentation rather than relying solely on specifications prepared before testing. During Project Convergence Capstone 6 in July, applications were used across a division formation to support decision making. The subsequent contracts establish a further step towards providing those functions at corps level.

As the applications move from division experiments towards I Corps, they must support more users, organisations and information flows during training. The computing and communications arrangements must also accommodate personnel operating at different locations and under changing network conditions. The wider NGC2 architecture combines resilient communications and computing infrastructure with software applications and the common data layer. Individual device installations and software configurations have not yet been specified.

The Army plans to update individual commercial applications within a modular architecture, rather than wait for a complete replacement of the wider command system. Traditional military information systems can remain tied to lengthy acquisition and upgrade cycles, whereas a modular application environment allows approved components to be revised or replaced as requirements change. The Army plans to continue evaluating technologies through its NGC2 Commercial Solutions Opening, providing a procurement route for additional suppliers. Maintaining interoperability through those changes will require configuration management, testing and controls governing the software and data interfaces used by the wider system.

Different supplier release schedules place additional demands on interface testing and configuration management across the integrated software environment. Updating one function may introduce new data requirements or change how existing information is presented, potentially affecting the applications that depend on it. Development teams must therefore coordinate technical interfaces and verify compatibility when software changes are introduced. The Army is building NGC2 around a common architectural framework intended to support that process, but the latest awards do not establish a completed catalogue of approved software or confirm that all planned applications have passed operational acceptance.

Individual companies bring different capabilities to the programme, although the Army has provided only limited information about the tasks covered by each contract. Rune Technologies has separately confirmed selection of its TyrOS sustainment platform for I Corps, covering software used to assess resources and support logistics decisions. Earlier participation by Onebrief in NGC2 prototyping also demonstrates how products tested during development can move into subsequent procurement stages. Those examples do not establish the precise technical scope or financial allocation of every award, which remains undisclosed.

Joseph Welch, the Army’s portfolio acquisition executive for Command and Control and Counter Command and Control, has identified the provision of core applications as an essential step in making the architecture available across the force. The Army also intends the system to provide a reference for integrating future commercial products rather than restricting the architecture to the initial suppliers. That approach depends on the continued availability of suitable development interfaces and the ability to test new software against the existing operational environment before wider deployment.

The initial awards, each covering one year, provide an initial contractual basis for delivering the selected applications to I Corps, while the programme continues to expand beyond its earlier division trials. Further work will involve integrating the new software with the established data services, training personnel and evaluating performance during subsequent exercises. No individual supplier delivery schedule or allocation of the $93.6 million has been released. The next substantive milestone will be the deployment and validation of these applications within the larger I Corps command structure, where their ability to operate as part of a shared system can be assessed.