When the Army ran its first full-length Project Convergence exercise during the summer of 2020, it served as a major milestone: proof that the service could connect decades-old systems to new modernized systems. The massive experiment – which one four-star compared to the Army’s pre-World War 2 exercise called the Louisiana Maneuvers – proved that the Army was getting serious about networking and future technology investments that Pentagon planners believe are vital moving forward as it prepares to square off against the Russian or Chinese militaries.
In essence, Convergence is how the Army intends to fill out its part of the Pentagon’s Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) concept. These major exercises, now officially to be held annually, are a testing ground for the various concepts and technologies the Army expects to rely on in the coming decades – new helicopters, robotic vehicles, tiny drones, augmented reality goggles, all connected by a secure and robust network. If you’re feeling optimistic, you could say it’s a live look-in on the future battlefield.
For this year’s edition, PC21, the exercise expanded even further, with additional units from the Army operating alongside each of the other military services. Held between early October and mid-November at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, the effort represented a less kinetic, more network-focused event.
Breaking Defense Army reporter Andrew Eversden traveled to Yuma twice to get a sense of what the service is doing. On his first trip in late October, Eversden saw an event focused on Future Vertical Lift technologies that will define the Army’s next rotorcraft designs. On the second trip, in early November, Eversden was one of a handful of reporters who travelled with Army Secretary Christine Wormuth to check out the meat of this year’s exercise. Throughout both trips, he interviewed several senior Army leaders overseeing the service’s modernization effort and making the service’s day-to-day decisions to hear their thoughts on the direction the service’s modernization is heading.
