U.S. Army trials AI-Driven Command System in Mojave Desert, Faces Technical Hurdles

The Army spent nine days at Fort Irwin testing more than 90 technologies, highlighted by an AI-powered command network, but soldiers dealt with connectivity glitches and overheating gear.

From the end of July, the US Army’s Project Convergence Capstone 6 unfolded in the High Mojave Desert, where personnel spent nine days testing a suite of over 90 emerging technologies. Central to the event was the Next-Generation Command and Control (NGC2) system, an AI-driven network that fuses battlefield sensors, reconnaissance drones and communications gear to deliver instantaneous situational awareness and enable rapid targeting.

Demonstrations included autonomous ground robots, “launched effects” drones for long-range fires, contested logistics and cross-domain communications linking land, sea, air, space and cyber forces. While senior officers highlighted the system’s ability to visualize troop and enemy locations and accelerate fire coordination, soldiers reported intermittent connectivity and equipment overheating amid soaring desert temperatures.

The trial supports the broader Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) initiative and will inform future roll-outs, with I Corps slated to receive NGC2 after further testing by the 4th and 25th Infantry Divisions. More than 60 defense firms, such as Anduril Industries, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, contributed hardware, underscoring the event’s role as a realistic proving ground for procurement.