The Navy’s secretive Project Overmatch initiative is “in full swing” right now with the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) Carrier Strike Group off the coast of California, the service’s top uniformed official said Monday, with plans to scale the effort in the coming months.
Adm. Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, said the results of the current experimentation with the Caril Vinson Strike Group will inform the next steps with expanding Project Overmatch, which is the Navy’s portion of the Pentagon’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) effort.
“I won’t talk about publicly where we’re going next. We’re learning from each iteration and making informed decisions based on that. Based on what we’ve seen so far with Vinson, we’re on schedule. I will say that. And [we’re] on track, in terms of the objectives that we’re seeking and where we want to go with it,” Gilday said during remarks at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space conference in National Harbor, Maryland on Monday.
Gilday first directed Naval Information Warfare Systems Command to lead Project Overmatch in 2020, which was said to have a goal of building a new naval operational infrastructure that to help a future manned and unmanned force operate in a distributed manner and create a common operating picture to best connect sensors to match sensors and shooters (Defense Daily, Oct. 15, 2020)
“I think that this joint tactical grid that we hope to yield for the force becomes a reality at scale,” Gilday said on Monday.
Gilday added there are “absolutely” plans to bring the Coast Guard into Project Overmatch, with the Marine Corps currently contributing to the effort.
This follows Gilday’s remarks in October that the Navy was sharing insights from Project Overmatch with some allies and partners (Defense Daily, Oct. 20 2022).
“So it’s not lost on me the power of including them, we have to be inclusive, or we’re not going to be able to fight together. And so we’re moving forward, I think we’re in a good place with our allies and partners in that effort. We’re not holding back,” Gilday said at the time.
In January 2021, Rear Adm. James Downey, program executive officer for carriers, confirmed the Navy had plans to add upgraded Project Overmatch capabilities to four unspecified aircraft carriers in the coming years (Defense Daily, Jan. 25 2022).