Gilday: Project Overmatch progressing well toward strike group testing

The Navy's Project Overmatch effort is on track to scale to strike group testing in late 2022 or early 2023, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday said Wednesday.

Project Overmatch, the Navy's effort to build the necessary architecture to provide data to the distributed force, is progressing well, Gilday said at the WEST 2021 conference co-hosted by the U.S. Naval Institute and AFCEA. The initiative is now in its third spiral since last fall.

"We're actually experimenting in a way that allows us to essentially pass any data on any network to the warfighter," Gilday said. "It's a software-defined communication system that allows us to essentially unpack all of our networks in a way we never have before."

Gilday appointed Rear Adm. Doug Small, head of Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, to lead Project Overmatch in October. The effort aims to create a network of networks to pass information without an operator.

"The real power of this is to put us in a position where we can actually decide and act as a fleet faster than the opponent," Gilday said. "It will give us a more resilient network."