GAO calls for NGC2 cost, schedule details while Army cites FYDP in pushback

The plan to scale Next Generation Command and Control across the Army by fiscal year 2032 is jeopardized by a lack of schedule specifics and future cost gauges, a new government watchdog report states, while the service in its reply argues this year's budget submission provides answers. NGC2, an Army modernization priority, is a sweeping future command and control solution that currently runs alongside C2 Fix, a near-term effort that mixes current technologies with commercial solutions to improve the network. The service hopes to field NGC2 to 11 divisions and four corps by its “tentative” 2032 goal, according to an assessment the Government Accountability Office conducted from January 2025 to August 2026, published today . “The absence of a detailed schedule and long-term cost data limit the Army’s ability to assess whether it has the time and resources it needs to meet its 2032 tentative goal,” the report states. “This gap risks access to secure and reliable communications soldiers in the field need for modern large-scale combat operations.” To help achieve its goals, the service should draw up a “detailed fielding schedule” and “estimate total costs” of NGC2, the GAO report states. Although the Pentagon concurred in its response, it also cited future years defense program details in the Army’s FY-27 budget submission that it said provide clarity on schedule details and cost predictions. The Army recommended GAO update its report, calling schedule concerns “no longer a limiting factor” and said this year’s budget submission “has identified NGC2 costs through the FYDP and further projects out to FY-32.” The service plans to spend $15.3 billion on NGC2 between FY-27 and FY-31, according to a sum of procurement and research and development line items for the solution’s four-layered stack approach, as outlined in the Pentagon’s FY-27 budget justification books. The Army has requested $1.6 billion for the NGC2 transport layer and $1.3 billion for its infrastructure layer in FY-27 alone, according to procurement books. It has also asked for $904.6 million the same year in research and development funds across all four layers in the NGC2 stack, which includes the data and applications layers. The report notes that service officials estimate NGC2 will amount to billions of dollars in costs each fiscal year. The figure will vary depending on how many and what type of divisions are fielded the modernized technology annually, as armored divisions will be pricier than airborne ones. The Army “has not developed a schedule that identifies the specific units that will receive the modernized capabilities by fiscal year,” the report states. The report adds: “Officials told us that other programs that make up NGC2 will have their own individual cost estimates, but that there is not a cost estimate for the full effort.” The Army validated its NGC2 solution at the division level at Project Convergence Capstone 6 this summer and has since announced scaling to I Corps later in the year. Army officials also told GAO that in FY-27, aside from I Corps fielding, the service plans to field NGC2 gear to the 7th Infantry Division and to “retouch” the 25th Infantry Division. -- With research support from Real Time Defense .