WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers are urging the Department of Defense to prioritize the Indo-Pacific as it interlinks soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and their disparate databases in a multibillion-dollar effort known as Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control.
Companion bills filed this week by Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, and Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican, instruct the department to address Indo-Pacific Command’s long-range networking and intelligence-sharing needs first. The command’s remit includes China and North Korea, as well Australia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The Biden administration considers the region critical to international stability and financial well-being.
By seamlessly connecting forces across all environments, including cyber and space, U.S. defense officials hope to outwit and outshoot tech-savvy adversaries of the future. Establishment of such links has been piecemeal as the services each have their own contribution to the connectivity campaign, and outdated or siloed technologies have hampered in-the-field collaboration.
The JADC2 Implementation Act, as the legislation is known, motivates “the right people and programs at the Pentagon to deploy needed strategies in a transformative way,” Issa said in a statement Nov. 27. “These capabilities will be a force multiplier for military efforts abroad and achieve smooth and efficient integration of warfighting units on the battlefield.”