SPECIAL FEATURE
Converging on the Future of Battlefield IT By Jim Shaw, Executive Vice President of Engineering, Crystal Group
Experimental exercises today are testing out how AI will strengthen tomorrow’s command, control, situational awareness, and more
18
COTS Journal | January 2021
The 2018 launch of the Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) wasn’t the earliest step in the military’s pursuit of AI capabilities, but it was one of the first high-profile demonstrations of its serious commitment. What’s followed in the Pentagon’s strides toward advanced battlefield AI— including the 2019 tandem release of a White House American AI Strategy executive order and an official DoD AI Strategy, as well as the 2020 adoption of five DoD Principles for Artificial Intelligence Ethics—have created the foundational doctrine for military-wide accelerated AI development and deployment. With the necessary E-Ring frameworks, agreements, and parameters in place, the services have kicked off multiple campaigns
aimed at harnessing digital transformation in the hunt for AI-powered capabilities that deliver the decisive advantage. The JAIC, as well as older future-focused defense organizations like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, have been at the center of many projects, programs, and campaigns targeting military AI development. But the rubber hit the road in a big way earlier this year when the Army—joined by elements of the Air Force and the Marine Corps—kicked off a five-week exercise known as Project Convergence. Held in August and September at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, Project Convergence ambitiously tested out multi-platform experiments and demonstrations that pushed the limits of today’s tactical
