Chris Panella
US Army soldiers are working with developers to refine the service's new command and control system in real time.
NGC2 is a software-driven command-and-control system now being tested through a series of Army exercises.
Soldiers are getting fixes overnight rather than in six months, officials said.
The US Army is rushing to close the dangerous gap between how fast technology evolves and how slowly the military usually moves.
The service's Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) system is being developed with soldiers and developers fixing problems in real time instead of waiting months for upgrades, Army officials said.
It's a different, faster approach to developing weapons than the service is used to; it's a process officials said is essential for preparing the Army for a potential high-intensity future conflict.
NGC2, has been a leading new development in the Army's broader transformation initiative that's focused on new weapons and technologies like uncrewed capabilities and artificial intelligence, and the service is leaning hard on soldier feedback for faster development.
"What soldiers are really enjoying is having the ability to talk to the developers," Maj. Gen. Patrick Ellis, commanding general of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, told reporters at a recent media roundtable.
Ellis said that while industry likes this setup, the soldiers really like it because it's not the usual "I've offered my opinion, and six months later another engineering release comes out."
"It's much more a case of, 'I've offered my opinion, and tomorrow, what I asked you to fix has now been fixed,'" he said.
Recent exercises have put soldiers and NGC2 developers in close contact as they work through feedback. US Army photo by Pvt. Jacob Cruz
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