The U.S. military’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) is working to integrate its early warning systems into the Department of Defense’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) architecture, with a key experiment planned for 2026, according to military officials at a recent industry conference.
CJADC2 aims to connect the sensors and weapons systems of the U.S. and its allies across all warfighting domains through a single, unified, and AI-enabled network. Each service is contributing to the architecture, including the Army’s Project Convergence, the Navy’s Project Overmatch, and the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS).
Drew Murphy, Joint Product Lead for Integrated CBRN Early Warning at JPEO-CBRND, explained that the office is collaborating with U.S. services and international mission partners to connect to the CJADC2 framework. “Given our geographic location, we worked very closely with the team developing the Army’s next-generation command and control architecture, which was tested during Project Convergence Capstone 5 earlier this year,” Murphy said.
JPEO-CBRND will participate in the 2026 Project Convergence experimentation series, including risk-reduction training events tailored for force protection and chemical-biological defense operations. Murphy noted that collaboration is strengthened by proximity to the Army’s PEO C3T and C5ISR Center, also headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
The office is also working with the Navy on maritime tactical command and control, the National Guard, and NATO to ensure robust standards for transmitting chemical and biological threat data to partners. The same efforts extend to the Indo-Pacific region, emphasizing multi-echelon data sharing for tactical, operational, and strategic decisions.
Tim Tharp, Joint Project Manager for CBRN Sensors, highlighted a paradigm shift: “We are not in the CBRN business—we are in the information business. Sensors collect information so commanders can make decisions. Whether it’s directing an operator to put on a mask or alerting forces to an unknown threat, it’s all about decision-quality data driving action.”
This integration marks a critical step in aligning chemical and biological defense with the Pentagon’s CJADC2 vision, ensuring readiness across multiple domains and allied operations.