Why Leidos Believes It Is A Good Cultural Fit For The JADC2 Challenge

In the nine years since Roger Krone became CEO of Leidos
LDOS
, he has sought to fashion a different kind of federal contractor. That transformation is readily apparent in the company’s defense businesses, which collectively generate 57% of corporate revenues.

On the one hand, Leidos—a contributor to my think tank—is not a traditional defense contractor, in the sense of being an original equipment manufacturer of military hardware. On the other hand, it is much more attuned to the unique needs of the military than the commercial companies that typically are awarded the title of “non-traditional” supplier.

Simply stated, the Leidos culture is focused on digital modernization, cyber operations, machine learning and other products of the information age that barely existed a generation ago.

CEO Krone, who came to Leidos from the networking and space business of Boeing
BA
, believes that’s where most of the innovation that matters most to the military will originate in the years ahead. So he focuses on a different constellation of opportunities than the big hardware houses—many of which have scaled back their information operations in recent years.

For Leidos, the biggest opportunity in a rapidly changing military landscape is what the Pentagon calls the Joint All-Domain Command and Control system, or JADC2.

Despite the name, it’s a fairly simple concept. The idea is to integrate all the sensors and weapons of the military on a cloud-like network so that warfighters can make informed decisions faster than enemies, applying the optimum tools to any given challenge.

But what looks simple in principle is extremely complicated in practice, because the military departments have spent decades developing service-specific warfighting systems that often can’t communicate with each other, and usually don’t operate across all the domains in which future conflict might unfold.

JADC2 thus demands a rewiring of the joint warfighting system, both technologically and culturally. Warfighters must learn to rely on systems outside their home services to address pressing threats, and they must be ready to react with lightning speed rather than deliberating for hours.

As a Congressional Research Service brief put it last year, “The Joint All-Domain Operations concept, thus, provides commanders access to information to allow for simultaneous and sequential operations using surprise and the rapid and continuous integration of capabilities across all domains—to try to gain physical and psychological advantages and influence and control over the operational environment.”

If it comes to fruition as first defined in 2019, JADC2 will be the mother of all military networking projects. Every system integrator in the military marketplace seems to be chasing it, and some think they should lead the project.

Leidos isn’t quite that ambitious, but it does believe it brings unique functional and cultural features to the JADC2 challenge. Here are some of the corporate attributes it cites as relevant to making joint all-domain command and control a reality.

Leidos is not a hardware company. Traditional OEMs are hardware-focused. However, you can’t buy JADC2 in a box the way the military might buy a tank or a bomber. It is largely about the application of software and algorithms to networked warfare, which is not where the biggest defense contractors have focused their businesses. It is, however, where Leidos is concentrated.

Leidos is platform-agnostic. Because its fate is not bound up in the success of big hardware projects, Leidos is detached from biases concerning the architectural aspects of JADC2. It can assess design options objectively without being concerned that its preexisting franchises might be disadvantaged.

Leidos understands digital networking. The company is software-centric in its approach to engineering solutions, as JADC2 necessarily will be too. Leidos has long experience in building digital networks around the world, and is intimately acquainted with how to construct secure, resilient systems.

Leidos is committed to open architectures. Avoiding proprietary technology is viewed in the Pentagon as essential to minimizing cost and maximizing flexibility. Everybody in industry claims to embrace the open-architecture ethos, but Leidos is one of the few providers that has built its business around such thinking.

Leidos is big enough to compete. During Roger Krone’s tenure as CEO, the company has nearly tripled its revenues to $14.4 billion last year. It employs 45,000 personnel, many with security clearances. Company executives believe their enterprise has the critical mass to compete as an equal with the big hardware houses that traditionally have dominated defense procurements.

Leidos knows how to partner. Tackling a project as big as JADC2 will likely require companies to create teams with diverse competencies. Leidos has a long history of strategic partnerships, both with big companies and with smaller enterprises that often possess unique niche capabilities.

None of this guarantees that Leidos will win a berth in building out the Joint All-Domain Command and Control system. Other companies are positioning for advantage in what looks to be a fierce competitive environment.

However, what makes Leidos different is that it is largely a product of the information age. It grew up with the internet, and it has led the way in applying emerging information technology like artificial intelligence to the unique needs of the military.

JADC2 will inevitably create winners and losers as it moves forward, not just
just
as contracts are awarded, but also as more traditional ways of executing military missions give way to networked warfare. Leidos execs think that given its track record, their company has a decent shot at being one of the winners.

As noted above, Leidos contributes to my think tank—as do some of its competitors.