Portfolio Acquisition Executive Command and Control and Counter-Command and Control (PAE C2/CC2)
PAE C2/CC2 owns both halves of the decision fight: the Army’s own command and control, and the means to break the adversary’s. It consolidates the network, intelligence and electronic warfare, and most of the training and simulation enterprise at Aberdeen_Proving_Ground. In dollar terms it is smaller than PAE_Fires; in architectural terms it is the most consequential portfolio in the Army.
| Type | Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) |
| Location | Aberdeen_Proving_Ground, MD |
| Portfolio Acquisition Executive | Joe_Welch |
| Deputy PAEs | Chris_Manning (also CPE_Intelligence_Spectrum_Warfare); Ryan_Janovic (MG), for Counter-C2 |
| Reports to | ASAALT for acquisition and materiel development; T2COM for requirements generation |
| Consolidates | PEO_IEWS, PEO_C3N (formerly PEO C3T), and most of PEO_STRI |
| Established | Announced 14 November 2025; initial operating capability January 2026 |
Mission
Own the command and control and counter-command and control capability area: requirements, science and technology, contracting, acquisition, test, programming, sustainment, and international sales. The portfolio pairs the systems that let the Army decide and act with the systems that deny the adversary the same, which is the doctrinal logic of putting network, intelligence, and electronic warfare under one executive.
It carries an embedded Senior Contracting Official with award authority.
Subordinate Organizations
- CPE_C2_Information_Network (CPE C2IN) — Shane_Taylor (BG); tactical network, radios, SATCOM, mission command, NGC2
- CPE_Intelligence_Spectrum_Warfare (CPE ISW) — Chris_Manning; intelligence, EW, sensors, PNT, cyber, space
- CPE_Simulation_Training_Test_Threat (CPE ST3) — Christine_Beeler (BG); simulation, training, test, and threat, headquartered in Orlando, FL
In direct support: Army_Contracting_Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground, ATEC, Communications-Electronics Command, DEVCOM_C5ISR_Center, and the Cyber_Center_of_Excellence and Intelligence_Center_of_Excellence for requirements.
Program Element families
See the three CPE pages for detail. Headline lines: 0604818A Army Tactical C2, 0604541A Unified Network Transport, 0605224A Multi-Domain Intelligence, 0604270A Electronic Warfare Development, 0604121A Synthetic Training Environment.
Why it matters
NGC2 is this portfolio’s flagship and the Army’s largest software bet. It is being bought through OTAs and commercial solutions openings, with an application-layer architecture designed to keep vendors replaceable.
Aberdeen Proving Ground is the address. The PAE, two of three CPEs, CECOM, the DEVCOM_C5ISR_Center, and Army_Contracting_Command-APG are colocated. Almost all Army network and sensing business runs through that campus.
The counter-C2 half is under-covered. Electronic warfare, cyber, and spectrum operations sit here with their own deputy PAE. The Army signalled new airborne jammer and lightweight ground EW pursuits for 2026.
Simulation landed here, which surprised people. Most of PEO_STRI came to this portfolio rather than to a training-focused one, on the logic that synthetic environments, test instrumentation, and threat representation are part of the decision-and-experimentation stack.
See Also
- ASAALT — acquisition chain
- T2COM — requirements chain; Cyber_Center_of_Excellence, Intelligence_Center_of_Excellence
- CPE_C2_Information_Network, CPE_Intelligence_Spectrum_Warfare, CPE_Simulation_Training_Test_Threat
- PAE_Maneuver, PAE_Maneuver_Air, PAE_Fires, PAE_Agile_Sustainment_Ammo, PAE_Layered_Protection_CBRN
- NGC2, JADC2, Kill_Chain, Multi_Domain_Operations
- Army_Acquisition_Reform_2025, Defense_Acquisition_System, JCIDS