Cross Functional Team (CFT) Advanced Development & Prototyping

The Cross Functional Team (CFT) Advanced Development & Prototyping program, designated as PE 0604020A, is an Army-led initiative focused on accelerating modernization through advanced component development and prototyping. This program is the Army's contribution to the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve (RDER), a Department of Defense (DoD) initiative established to facilitate rapid, multi-component experimentation and learning. The primary objective is to identify, mature, and validate capabilities developed across DoD prototyping programs, with the ultimate goal of refining and supporting the Joint Warfighting Concept (JWC).

The program's goals are centered on conducting large-scale experiments that integrate technologies from various Services, agencies, and international partners. These experiments are designed to evaluate capabilities in operationally relevant, multi-domain environments, directly supporting the four key concepts of the JWC: Joint Concept for Fires, Joint Concept for Command and Control, Joint Concept for Contested Logistics, and Joint Concept for Information Advantage.

The Army's experimentation outcomes help validate required capabilities, inform requirements determination by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, and support budgetary decisions at the departmental level.

Within this Program Element, the DC8: Army Experimentation and Prototyping project was the primary focus, though it was terminated in FY2026. The DC8 project aimed to enable Joint All Domain Operations by developing layered solutions for competition with peer and near-peer adversaries. Efforts included advancing capabilities in fires, command and control, logistics, and information advantage. The project accelerated joint warfighting capabilities by demonstrating and assessing innovative technologies, with the intention of transitioning successful prototypes to Combatant Command (CCMD) operations.

The Army RDER 24 Program was a major effort in FY2024, maturing technologies to prototypes for Soldier evaluations and CCMD assessments. Specific objectives included developing expeditionary fabrication capabilities, autonomous platforms for logistics resupply, and modeling and simulation tools. Additional focus areas were advanced fires and sensing for base defense, as well as improvements in network, data analytics, and information distribution.

The program progressed through prototyping, integration, and risk reduction activities to demonstrate integrated solutions for logistics, resupply, repair, and base defense.

In FY2025, the Army RDER 25 Program continued these efforts, with an emphasis on advanced communication and network connectivity to enable interoperable joint service communication. The program also integrated solutions for advanced fires, sensors, and logistics support. Activities included systems design, hardware procurement, prototyping, software maturation, and systems integration for layered solutions in joint force communication, fires, sensing, and defensive force protection. The goal was to facilitate warfighter training, experimentation, and assessments, leading to recommendations for accelerated transition to acquisition.

Key agencies involved in these efforts included DEVCOM-ARL, DEVCOM-C5ISR, PEO C3T, PEO IEWS, JPEO A&A, and PEO STRI, among others. These organizations were responsible for program management, capability transition, product development, and integration of advanced sensing, fires, communication, and logistics systems.

The projects were selected and approved through processes managed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OSD-R&E), the Deputy's Management Action Group (DMAG), and the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) office.