Modernization leaders gather for Project Convergence 22 final planning conference

By Jonathan KoesterJune 15, 2022

Modernization leaders gather for Project Convergence 22 final planning conference
Col. Jackie Kaina, left, of Army Futures Command speaks to Lt. Col. Stuart Purves of the Australian army during a working group session June 7, 2022, during the Project Convergence 22 final planning conference on Fort Bliss, Texas. (Photo Credit: Jonathan Koester) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BLISS, Texas — Representatives of the U.S. military branches, allied partners and the Army Modernization community gathered at Fort Bliss, Texas, the week of June 6 to finalize planning for this year’s Project Convergence experiment, scheduled for the fall at various locations.

The U.S. Army Joint Modernization Command led the final planning conference for Project Convergence 22, with stakeholders from around the world gathering to push the experiment forward. PC22 is the third in the Army Futures Command-led series of Project Convergence events.

The week of planning made clear there are some big changes coming to PC22, most notably the addition of multinational partners. Participants from the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force were added to PC21, and the United Kingdom and Australia are set to join the experiment for PC22.

PC22 will include more than 100 technologies, which will take detailed planning to incorporate. Focusing on scenarios for both the Indo-Pacific and European theaters and tying together locations across California, Washington State, and Hawaii, the experiment will enable the U.S. Army, joint and multinational partners to assess future warfighting concepts and capabilities.

Lt. Gen. Scott McKean, deputy commanding general of AFC and director of Futures and Concepts Center, kicked off the final planning conference by reminding the gathered attendees about the importance of Project Convergence 22 as an opportunity to bring together the U.S. military and multinational partners to strengthen the ability to fight as a combined force.

“For the joint services that are participating, what I talk to your three-star leaders about is this is an opportunity for you to experiment with your service concepts, whether it's distributed maritime operations, expeditionary advanced base operations or agile combat deployment," McKean said. "The opportunity is there, and what we want to make sure, from a Project Convergence perspective, that we are providing you the venue and the capabilities to really get a good look at those concepts. And then you can take all that experimentation and really help move our warfighting concepts forward.”

At the end of the week, McKean received an outbrief on progress from all the working groups of the planning conference. With the way forward set, the Army and its joint and multinational partners now move to Project Convergence experiments with cutting-edge technologies, looking to build a force that can rapidly converge effects across all domains.