Cooperative Engagement Capability

The Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) Increment 2 (Inc 2) Capability Development Document (CDD) evolves legacy CEC capabilities by enhancing the current Naval air defense and sensor network system capabilities through extension of kill chains, extension of communications Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS), expansion of composite track management capability-Joint and Force Level, expansion of network capacity, as well as expansion into other warfare mission domains. The CEC Inc 2 CDD integrates new sensor types and track data sources into the network, such as surface search radars and passive detection sensors, as well as relevant data from other networks. The CEC Inc 2 CDD provides a more complete, robust, and resilient situational awareness picture, composite identification, and Integrated Fire Control. It also accommodates more Cooperating Units with assured communications for Integrated Air and Missile Defense, Surface Warfare, and Electronic Warfare domains. The CEC Inc 2 CDD was signed by Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO) on 26 June 2019 and approved by the Joint Capabilities Board (JCB) on 18 March 2020. Although CEC BLK II is a Navy program, it does have joint force interest through potential inclusion in higher-level sensor-to-shooter networks like the Naval Tactical Grid (NTG), the Joint Tactical Grid (JTG), and Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) concept and capability developments. New capability development designated in the CEC Inc 2 CDD will be realized through a series of Acquisition Category (ACAT) II Block (BLK) upgrades (BLK II-IV), with the first being enumerated as CEC BLK II. CEC BLK II is a software intesive capability insertion into the existing CEC ACAT IC Full Rate Production system. The new capability development within each BLK upgrade is further organized and phased into incrementally developed and delivered capability groups (CGs). Delivered CEC BLK II capability enabling features are grouped and integrated into CEC software baselines for fielding. The CEC Program has realigned RDT&E funding from PU 2039 COOP Engagement to PU 3240 CEC Increment 2 for the incremental development of CEC software and hardware improvements necessary to meet the requirements in the CEC Increment 2 CDD.

Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) significantly improves Battle Force Anti-Air Warfare (AAW) capability by coordinating all Battle Force AAW sensors into a single, realtime, composite track picture to support integrated fire control. CEC distributes sensor data from each USMC Command Control Unit, US Navy Ship, and US Navy Aircraft, or Cooperating Unit (CU), to all other CUs in the battle force through a real-time, line of sight, high data-rate sensor and engagement data distribution network. CEC is highly resistant to jamming and provides accurate gridlocking between CUs. Each CU independently employs high capacity, parallel processing and advanced algorithms to combine all distributed sensor data into a fire control quality track picture which is the same for all CUs. CEC data is presented as a superset of the best AAW sensor capabilities from each CU, all of which are integrated into a single input to each CU's combat weapons system. CEC significantly improves our Battle Force defense in depth, including both local area and ship defense capabilities against current and future AAW threats. Moreover, CEC provides critical connectivity and integration of over-land air defense systems capable of countering emerging air threats, including land attack cruise missiles, in a complex littoral environment. The CEC Program Office oversees CEC development for all services with funding provided for their respective combat systems. CEC consists of the Data Distribution System (DDS), the Cooperative Engagement Processor (CEP), and interface with Combat Systems and sensors. The DDS encodes and distributes own-ship sensor and engagement data and is a high capacity, jam resistant, directional system providing high data throughput as well common time and common positional frame of reference. The CEP is a high capacity distributed processor that processes data from all integrated radars. The data is passed to the ship's combat system as a high quality, common, continuous, engageable track. CEC operates in an increasingly contentious cyber-space. Measures are being taken to robustly mitigate, and where possible, completely remediate cyber vulnerabilities.

In FY26, Navigation Systems RDT&E transition from PE 0204228N to PE 0607658N. This was a zero-sum transition, there is no growth. The Surface Support RDT&E funding will be used for the research, design, development, integration, testing, and documentation of the Inertial Navigation System (INS) AN/WSN-12 for all Navy ships and submarines. The INS provides mission critical ship position and attitude data to shipboard sensors (such as radars), combat and weapon systems. The INS uses data from the Global Positioning System (GPS) to periodically update (i.e., reset) its position and internal clock. The INS is the ship's primary position source in the absence of GPS, and it consists of an Inertial Sensor Module (ISM) and a Navigation Processing Module (NPM) that will provide a significant improvement with respect to attitude and velocity data over previous INS. RDT&E funding will support continued system design to create a baseline for Pre-Production Units (PPU), Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP), and Full Rate Production (FRP). Submarine Speed Sensors will provide investigation, development, testing and integration of new Own-Ship Speed sensors to address new capabilities, reduce counter-detection, and improve reliability.