Project Convergence: The Future War has Begun

Project Convergence è l’iniziativa di punta dell’Esercito degli Stati Uniti per lo sviluppo di capacità militari integrate e digitalizzate, mirata a unificare sensori, effettori e comandi attraverso un’unica rete operativa in tempo reale. Nato nel 2020, il progetto punta a trasformare radicalmente la guerra terrestre, sfruttando intelligenza artificiale, reti di comunicazione avanzate e collaborazione interforze. All’interno di questo programma, il termine Capstone indicates a final, large-scale exercise in which all the skills tested in the previous months are put to the test.

The project “Project Convergence – Capstone 5” ha recentemente messo in scena uno scenario di guerra ad alta tecnologia che ha coinvolto tutte le forze armate statunitensi – Esercito, Marina, Aviazione, Corpo dei Marines e Space Force – in un’operazione congiunta per “riconquistare” il National Training Center di Fort Irwin, in California, da una forza nemica simulata. L’esercitazione, svoltasi tra marzo e aprile 2025, ha segnato un momento decisivo nello sviluppo delle operazioni multi-dominio, orientate verso un modello di guerra completamente interconnesso.

The operation saw an unprecedented integration of forces and technologies. Naval drones attacked enemy ships off San Diego, while piloted and unmanned aircraft struck enemy air defences. US satellites jammed enemy communications with electromagnetic attacks, while long-range missiles prepared the ground for infiltration via helicopters and ground vehicles, under cover of attack helicopters. Once the offensive was over, the forces had to move quickly to the defence of the newly conquered territory.

Secondo il tenente generale David Hodne, vice comandante dell’Army Futures Command, questa iterazione di Project Convergence ha rappresentato un passo in avanti decisivo. “For the first time, we integrated everything into one coherent scenario, deploying military capabilities from the Fort Irwin area to Pendleton, along the entire Californian coastline,' he said. The objective was to test the full interoperability between US and allied land, air, naval and space forces in a realistic war scenario.

The Network Challenge: Unifying Data, Commands and Decisions

One of the main obstacles to future warfare is not the enemy, but the interconnection of systems. As Major General Patrick Ellis, head of the Command and Control Cross-Functional Team, explained, "We collect a lot of data, but it's often not in the right place or in the right format." The main problem is that the various 'boxes' - the hardware and software systems - communicate with each other inefficiently, requiring constant manual steps to transform and re-enter data.

Capstone 5 was a testbed for a new type of software, developed in collaboration with the defence industry, which aims to connect all sensors, commands and decision centres in a single visual interface accessible in real time from every command centre. In practice, the exercise sought to create a kind of 'distributed digital brain', where each command could see the same up-to-date image of the battlefield and make consistent decisions.

This approach was further tested in a second joint mission in the Indo-Pacific, involving bases in Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, French Polynesia and Australia. The data collected was shared not only between US forces but also with British, French and Japanese partners, demonstrating the system's potential for international interoperability.

Lieutenant General J.B. Vowell, deputy commander of the U.S. Army Pacific, commented: "PC-C5 has confirmed to us that we are on the right track. Now we just need to accelerate." The speed of development and adaptation is, in fact, the real critical factor in an age when information superiority is worth more than the number of men or vehicles.

Integrated Fire and Robotics: The Next Frontiers of Warfare

Project Convergence highlighted the growing need to combine offensive and defensive capabilities in unified systems. At present, the army has separate assets for the two functions: offensive systems such as HIMARS to hit strategic targets and defensive systems such as Patriot missiles to shoot down air threats. But in a dynamic scenario, where a unit must conquer, maintain and defend an area, an integrated system is required.

"It won't happen this year," admitted Vowell, "but we will continue to experiment, test and innovate. We will get there." Within this framework, robotic vehicles are playing an increasingly central role. At Fort Irwin, ground combat robots led the assault once the enemy defences were down. Although the US Army does not yet have these vehicles on a large scale, they are now a growing priority in technological development.

Lieutenant General Hodne emphasised: "Every time we find new uses for robots. It is not a change of course, but an expansion of possibilities." The next step will be to identify which robots offer the best operational and financial return for the army. To this end, the Transformation-in-Contact units will work closely with the defence industry to prototype and test new solutions.

The appointment is already set: Project Convergence – Capstone 6 si svolgerà nell’agosto 2025. It will be an opportunity to see if the Army has managed to bridge the gap between digital aspirations and operational capabilities in the field.

Source: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2025/05/armys-latest-networked-warfare-experiment-took-back-fort-irwin/405042/