Project Convergence 21 to begin next week

Project Convergence 21 will begin next week and run for six weeks, Army Futures Command announced Thursday.

Personnel from the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps will join the Army for the exercise at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, and White Sands Missile Range, NM, according to a Futures Command press release. More than 100 new technologies will appear at the exercise, which will include seven “use cases.”

“Technologies to be tested utilize artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and other scientific advances in transformative ways, resulting in sophisticated sensor-to-shooter systems and revolutionary speed, range and convergence of joint operations,” the press release stated.

This is the second iteration of the Project Convergence exercise. Last year’s event focused on decreasing the sensor-to-shooter time for Army systems, and it has expanded to other services and more new technologies this year.

Attempts to link sensors and shooters will continue this year, and they will include more systems from the other services, Gen. John Murray, leader of Futures Command, said in the press release.

“We are learning how to converge all of the joint capabilities together to enable the best sensor to the best shooter, regardless of service,” Murray said.

Senior leaders are expected to visit Yuma Proving Ground during a daylong event this fall to see the results of the exercise.

The service has conducted 113 soldier touchpoints this fiscal year in preparation for PC 21, according to the press release. Other Army exercises this year, including for new communications and aviation capabilities, have also served to preview capabilities that will appear at the marquee Project Convergence exercise.

The Army began teasing Project Convergence 21 last October, a month after the completion of PC 20. Many of the service’s high-profile new units and technologies are expected to appear, such as the Multi-Domain Task Force, Precision Strike Missile and Directed Energy Mobile Short-Range Air Defense.