Navy including allies and partners in Project Overmatch work

The Navy is sharing its secretive Project Overmatch effort with allies and partners, according to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday.

Without listing specific countries, the admiral said at an Atlantic Council event on Wednesday that the Navy is working with allies that “we see a higher likelihood of interoperability [with] in the near term.”

Project Overmatch, the Navy’s contribution to the Pentagon’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control effort, is a software-defined network of networks, aiming to connect every sensor, weapon and platform in a naval operational architecture.

“We have to be inclusive or we're not going to be able to fight together and we're moving forward I think at a good pace with our allies and partners in that effort,” Gilday said. “We're not holding back.”

Project Overmatch will deliver the “core of the joint tactical grid” and allow the service to make decisions faster than its adversaries, according to the admiral.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks received an update on Project Overmatch in San Diego, CA this week after attending Project Convergence 2022 at Camp Pendleton, CA.

Hicks said the Defense Department is making progress towards JADC2 and that “Project Overmatch will play a key role in maintaining decision advantage over our adversaries, connecting platforms, weapons and sensors together across all warfighting domains for a more lethal joint force,” according to a press release.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said on Thursday that he is “deeply dedicated” to Project Overmatch’s success.

“It's going to be transformational in the way that our weapon systems communicate together as a joint force and the amount of talent, energy, money that we're putting into it is respectable,” Del Toro said at the Professional Services Council’s Defense Conference.

Research and development funding for Project Overmatch increased from $73 million in fiscal year 2022 to $195 million in FY-23.

So far, Navy officials have remained very quiet on the initiative due to classification.

“I'm not going to tell the Chinese what we're up to . . . I'm just very excited that we have that capability and we're going to be employing it throughout the fleet sooner than later,” Del Toro said.