C4I Interoperability

The United States National Military Strategy states that joint force mission systems are to be conceptualized and designed with joint architectures and acquisition strategies to ensure that technical, doctrinal and cultural barriers do not limit the ability of joint commanders to achieve objectives. Despite this mandate, military service components continue to acquire, operate, and train with and maintain unique command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence C4I systems, creating self-induced friction in the operating environment. Mission effectiveness is reduced, operations are slowed, and information from multiple systems is not delivered to the warfighter. A lack of standardized, interoperable systems and equipment between organizations creates a disjointed operational environment for commanders in charge of intra-agency, multi-service, and coalition operations. Although individual service components have made progress in developing advanced C4I systems, the warfighters requisite for interoperability within the current expeditionary environment falls short in developing the human factors required for success.