The U.S. Army said on June 22 that Anduril Industries will lead the common data layer baseline for its Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) effort as the service moves the initiative from prototyping toward delivery.
Under the initiative, Anduril will remain partnered with Palantir to provide an edge-to-cloud data mesh through Anduril’s Lattice platform and Palantir’s Foundry platform, along with associated software deployment tools. Anduril also will partner with Raft to provide NGC2 data and services registries, data transformation tools, and data federation through the Raft Data Platform.
The announcement follows 10 months of feedback and data gathered during operational training events involving the 4th Infantry Division and the 25th Infantry Division. During those events, industry teams led by Anduril and Lockheed Martin worked with commanders and soldiers to rapidly scale and improve NGC2 capabilities.
Anduril will continue serving as the lead for operational implementation of the full NGC2 hardware and software stack with the 4th Infantry Division, while Lockheed Martin will continue leading full-stack operational implementation for the 25th Infantry Division.
According to the Army, the Anduril and Lockheed Marting teams incorporate numerous other companies to provide each division with a tailored technology ecosystem that includes command-and-control applications, data, infrastructure, networking, and transport solutions designed to connect soldiers on the battlefield, including in contested and denied environments.
The operational implementation leads also are responsible for working with units to align capabilities with commander priorities and mission requirements. That includes tailoring applications, algorithms, and hardware for specific operational missions and theaters, as well as supporting new application development, edge computing integration, private 5G implementation, other communications solutions, and the fusion of electromagnetic spectrum effectors.
The Army said its decision to establish a common data layer was informed by operational experience gained through the training events.
Looking ahead, Project Convergence-Capstone 6, scheduled for July 2026, will serve as the culminating event for a division-scale, force-on-force validation of NGC2 at the National Training Center. Army officials said the event will help accelerate the transition from prototyping to scaled product delivery.
“This is a major step forward as NGC2 evolves into a phase of continuous delivery and we provide this capability at the speed of relevance,” Brig. Gen. Shane Taylor, capability program executive for Command and Control Information Network, said in a statement. “We continue to encourage industry self-teaming and collaboration to adjust capabilities to commander priorities, operational needs and emerging technologies.”
Joseph Welch, portfolio acquisition executive for Command and Control/Counter Command and Control, said the Army is already moving forward with the converged data layer architecture.
“Our vendor partners have demonstrated great teamwork and flexibility in helping us establish this baseline and set the groundwork for rapid scaling,” he said.