JOINT CAPABILITY TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATIONS

Joint Capabilities and Technology Demonstration is built on four pillars of strength including a strong relationship between combatant commanders, the office of the secretary of defense the services, other defense agencies and coalition partners. Other pillars include strong business processes, strong leadership including congressional support, and strong ties to the Joint Staff and functional capability boards.

Established in 2006 as a new Advanced Capability Technology Demonstrations business process, Joint Capability Technology Demonstrations provide a faster, more integrated joint response. These demonstrations meet the emerging asymmetrical threats facing our nation. They focus on joint and transformational technologies initiated in the Science and Technology division. The JCTD process completes projects within three years, with the third year utilized for transition or sustainment. The JCTD process provides an avenue for joint peculiar issues that continue to challenge DoD.

JCTDs have all the advantages of support in the joint arena without traditional barriers. JCTDs are designed to address concerns of combatant commanders and introduce a new generation of demonstration processes: such as faster-start and reduced-risk.

Characteristics of a JCTD

• Address needs with Mature Technology (TRL 6 or above) / Innovative Concepts

• Provide technical solution with Operational Concepts and TTPs

• Evaluate solutions in warfighter Operational Demonstrations by conducting a relevant Military Unit Assessment (MUA) or Operational Unit Assessment (OUA)

• Usually Joint, often Combined/Coalition/Interagency

• Rapid results: One to 3 years or less to Final Demonstration and Rapid Prototyping & Capability Delivery

• Multiple funding sources fostered by strong partnerships with Transition Planning

Pillars of the JCTD Program

• Strong community relationship between combatant commanders, office of the secretary of defense, the services, myriad agencies and coalition partners

• Business process getting very strong

• Strong leadership and congressional support

• Strong interaction with Joint Staff & Functional Capability Boards

Joint Test and Evaluation Program

The JT&E program objective is to find ways for warfighters to do their jobs better with today's equipment, organization, and doctrine. This objective is achieved after successfully evaluating new concepts and addressing needs and issues that occur in joint military environments. The program includes the nomination process; the joint feasibility study process, which determines whether selected nominations are operationally needed and technically feasible; and, when making such a determination, the execution of a JT&E project chartered by the director, operational test and evaluation. The process and procedures for nominating and conducting a quick reaction test are also included.

The JT&E program is composed of three separate, but closely related projects:

• Joint Feasibility Study. A seven-month study to determine the need and feasibility of a proposed joint test

• Joint Test. A test, up to three years in duration, whose results have the potential for significant improvements in joint capabilities

• Quick Reaction Test. A short duration test, normally less than 12 months, designed to expedite solutions to emergent joint operational problems 

Purpose

The JT&E Program brings two or more of the Services together to accomplish the following objectives:

• Assess service interoperability in joint operations and explore potential solutions to identified problems

• Evaluate joint technical and operational concepts, and recommend improvements

• Increase joint mission capability using quantitative data for analysis

• Improve modeling and simulation validity with field exercise data.

• Provide feedback to the acquisition and joint operations communities

• Improve tactics, techniques, and procedures

• Validate operational testing methodologies that have joint applications

JT&E Quick View

In-depth, methodical evaluation of issues within scope of JT&E program purpose

• Duration: Three years maximum (Charter-to-Closedown)

• Sponsors: COCOMs, JFCOM, Services, OSD

• Testers: Executed by Service-led JT&E test teams

• Delivers defined and useful products to warfighter

• Principle products: *Development of tactics, techniques, and procedures *Changes to operational processes *C4ISR architecture improvements

• Not a hardware acquisition program

Science and Technology Inegrated Product Team

The Science and Technology Integrated Product Team (S&T IPT) supports coordinates the S&T activities of the Marine Corps S&T "community of interest." The IPT serves as a forum that provides all organizations involved a voice in the S&T process. The community of interest includes combat development activities, the Training and Education Command, and some departments within Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps. Another community of interest is material development and Marine Corps Systems Command. Both the Office of Naval Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are important communities, as is non-lethal technology development.