The services are collaborating as never before, officials said, as they outsource non-combat networks through new “IT as a service” contracts.

AI is a key growth investment area for DoD, with nearly $1 billion allocated for 2020. Breaking Defense takes an in-depth look at what’s happening, and what’s ahead.

An independent advisory group recommends the JEDI program be put on hold until the Defense Department’s cloud procurement plan is redone and syncs with the CIO’s cloud strategy.

DoD’s IT spending includes “a budget of more than $46.4 billion in fiscal year 2019, roughly 10,000 operational systems, thousands of data centers, tens of thousands of servers, millions of computers and IT devices, and hundreds of thousands of commercial mobile devices.”

A Pentagon task force is reviewing over a hundred tools and services to speed up software acquisition.

“The SOF guys are less risk averse than conventional ground forces, so they’re more apt to push the limit,” said Bob Work, father of the AI-driven Third Offset Strategy. “Their commanders also have embraced AI and autonomous ops…. so I think all the conditions are set for SOF to lead the way in the more direct combat applications of AI and autonomy.”

“You’re not looking at my mission needs,” Brig. Gen. Crall told an audience of contractors. “If ‘there’s an app for that,’ does the app work when you’re disconnected?” Crall asked. “Does the app work when you haven’t had food for three days and you’ve been cut off?”

The JSDR database won’t just keep American communications officers from mistakenly scrambling each others’ signals, either. By providing a comprehensive baseline of what friendly transmissions look like, the mega-database will make it easier for Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Electronic Warfare (EW) troops to hone in on enemy transmissions.

“We’re getting ready to make a big announcement, coming out in weeks,” acting deputy CIO Thomas Michelli. “Watch this space. Stay tuned.”

“The major challenge for the US is China,” CNA analyst Larry Lewis said. “They are approaching the use of AI just like the US approached going to the moon in the sixties.”