FEBRUARY 11, 2026 — During the Army’s recent technical exchange meeting with industry, Army leaders updated industry partners on Next Generation Command and Control, or NGC2, priorities, opportunities and the way acquisition transformation is enabling the rapid delivery of these emerging commercial capabilities.
NGC2 is a fundamental redesign of the way the Army conducts command and control, enabling commanders to enhance decision overmatch using a “full stack” capability ecosystem that is comprised of C2 data, software systems and applications, as well as the underlying network, transport and infrastructure solutions.
In its simplest form, the goal of NGC2 is to enable commanders to make decisions at speed faster than their adversaries, Army leaders said.
“We need [industry] partners who are ready to deliver today. This is no longer a concept—it’s a reality,” said the Hon. Michael A. Obadal, 36th under secretary of the Army during his opening keynote address. “And we’re not doing it on paper. We’re executing two division-level prototyping efforts right now, [the 4th Infantry Division and the 25th ID].”
“This is where requirements get tested, where integration gets real, and where we prove what we think is ready to scale,” he said.
Technical Exchange Meeting 15, TEM 15, was hosted by Capability Program Executive Command, Control, Communications, and Network (CPE C3N) and C2 Future Capability Directorate at Aberdeen Proving Ground on Jan. 30. Throughout the event, Army leaders painted a detailed picture of NGC2 and how the Army rapidly drove from concept to equipping two prototype divisions in a matter of months. They also laid out potential opportunities for industry to participate as the service looks to field future divisions.
“I want to emphasize that NGC2 will never be finished. It will never be finished, by design, because it will continually evolve alongside rapid technological change,” said Brig. Gen. Michael Kaloostian, director, C2 Future Capability Directorate and TEM 15 co-host. “It’s never been more important to understand how industry is helping the Army solve tough problems. We, the Army, cannot do it alone.”
Nor is the Army asking industry partners to do it alone. To ensure best-of-breed capabilities, the Army is utilizing a team lead approach that competitively onboards vendors, capabilities and teams for current and future NGC2 divisions.
“We are looking for best-of-breed capabilities at every layer of the stack, and we expect teaming across incumbents and non-incumbents to be the norm. Success in this environment comes from understanding where your capability fits, investing ahead of demand, and being ready to integrate when the opportunity presents itself,” said Jesse D. Tolleson, Jr., principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, during his TEM 15 keynote.
PROOF OF CONCEPT “IN THE DIRT”
Soldier-driven experimentation in operational training events — such as 4ID’s Ivy Sting and 25th ID’s Lightning Surge exercise pathways— are conduits for innovation and are iteratively growing in scale, enabling the Army to continuously learn, adapt, and make rapid progress on current prototypes. These events will continue to inform and transform NGC2 and fielding to the broader Army in the future.
Brig. Gen. Shane Taylor, CPE C3N and TEM 15 co-host, said a critical benefit of the process is having the acquisition enterprise, operational units, and industry partners together on site, simultaneously learning and enhancing NGC2 at a rapid pace.
“We’re seeing it in things like when we do agile software development and the ability to actually turn solutions in a matter of weeks, with the Soldiers right there in the dirt, and then how we align portfolio resources to Army priorities,” Taylor said. “Everything that we’re doing is designed around how we deliver things faster as new capabilities come online.”
Taylor also highlighted how NGC2 must support differences in the way divisions and commanders fight, noting the two division prototypes as a perfect example.
“The 25ID and the 4ID do not have the same mission and do not fight the same way. So, from a Next Gen C2 perspective, our approach is to deliver a set of tools that commanders can pick and choose from and apply towards their specific mission set,” Taylor said. “It’s all about being tailorable, adaptable and fast.”
TRANSFORMING ACQUISITION FOR SPEED
Achieving these goals requires a change in the way the Army does business, Tolleson said, with flexible requirements, continuous user input, commercial solutions first, and contracting strategies designed for speed and scale.
He noted that NGC2 is already implementing these practices, serving as a trailblazer for Army acquisition reform.
“I want to emphasize that [NGC2] is not a single program, platform or product. It is a blueprint for how we will deliver command and control capabilities going forward,” Tolleson said. “It allows continuous integration of new tools, faster upgrades, and competition at every layer. Just as importantly, it enables a different relationship with industry, one centered on modularity, integration, and speed.”
He noted that the Army has reorganized around portfolio acquisition executives, PAEs, to give senior leaders clear accountability and the authority across six capability portfolios to manage trade-offs, accept informed-risk, and accelerate decisions. Additionally, budget flexibility will be a key enabler of the approach.
“By consolidating budget lines and aligning resources at the portfolio level, we can shift funding toward capabilities that demonstrate value and performance, rather than waiting for the next budget cycle,” Tolleson said.
He emphasized that “speed is a requirement,” and that NGC2 will not work without contracting approaches that match the pace of modern technology. For NGC2 and across its portfolio, the Army is deliberately emphasizing commercial contracting pathways, such as commercial solution openings that enable the Army “to move quickly while maintaining competition and discipline.”
STREAMLINING REQUIREMENTS
Mr. Joseph Welch, PAE for Command and Control and Counter C2 and executive director for the U.S. Army Transformation and Training Command, discussed Army efforts to streamline away from traditional, prescriptive requirements, enabling the service and industry to adapt quickly through continuous experimentation and feedback.
Welch also dove into the Army’s recent reorganization of its acquisition teams to best support the rapid and continued delivery of NGC2. The organizational changes reflect a new way of doing business for the Army, with a reliance on evolving industry capabilities and a shift from single use to versatile, integrated solutions.
“You’ll hear a lot about trade spaces today…the ability to make trades between requirements, resourcing, acquisition and contracting. …that is a core element of what we are doing in the Army with our PAE strategy,” Welch said.
RAPID FIELDING, DISCIPLINED SCALING
One of the challenges of the past has been in finding the right balance between moving fast and scaling to the broader Army. To sustain rapid capability iteration for future fieldings, the Army intends to simplify how it funds NGC2 and increase the resources behind it, while maintaining the flexibility to scale what works, Obadal said.
By adopting modern architecture, software and data practices, and fundamental acquisition reform the Army can “shorten the technical gap between our formations and the leading edge of emerging technology,” he said.
“If we get this right, in the very near future, we shouldn’t ever see sweeping ‘next gen’ or ‘of the future’ initiatives,” Obadal said. “Instead, we should see continued development of a mature ecosystem, modular, and connected throughout the operating force and across all of our platforms. To get there, we must work together effectively.”
In closing, Obadal laid out best practices for collaboration between the Army and industry on NGC2.
“Bring your core strength, bring your market map, bring your tech roadmap, and your business realities. If you do that, we can move faster and we can scale with discipline as this expands,” Obadal said to the industry audience. “Together, we’ll build the future of Army command and control. We’ll ensure the Soldiers have the tools that they need to succeed in those complex and contested and demanding environments. Most importantly, our Soldiers won’t have to face a fair fight.”
By Amy Walker
Project Manager C2 Transport, CPE C3N, public affairs