UNIFY.C2 at CENTCOM’s EXTiC 26-2: Interoperability at Mission Speed

At EXTiC 26-2, interoperability was not a concept presented on a slide. It had to work in the field.

In July 2026, UNIFY.C2 participated in Experimentation: Transforming in Contact, or EXTiC 26-2, a U.S. Central Command technology experimentation event conducted at the Playas Training and Research Center in New Mexico in collaboration with the Defense Innovation Unit.

UNIFY.C2 was one of 21 companies selected from 149 industry submissions to participate in an event designed to evaluate emerging capabilities in operationally relevant conditions. The scenarios addressed challenges including electronic warfare, GPS-denied operations, autonomous systems, and coordinated drone swarms.

Testing More Than an Individual Technology

EXTiC was not structured as a traditional product demonstration.

Participating technologies were evaluated as parts of broader, end-to-end mission scenarios. The question was not simply whether an individual sensor or software application could function independently. The question was whether different capabilities could connect, exchange meaningful information, and support operators as conditions changed.

For UNIFY.C2, that meant demonstrating its role as the mission layer between otherwise separate systems.

During the event, the UNIFY.C2 team connected six sensor modalities from multiple vendors that had not previously been integrated with the platform. Their detections and tracks were then brought into a unified Common Operating Picture, where operators could view and assess airspace activity through a single operational environment.

Integration Under Operational Conditions

Integrating technologies in the field is different from connecting systems in a controlled development environment.

Vendors arrive with different interfaces, data structures, network configurations, deployment assumptions, and levels of technical documentation. Operational conditions introduce additional constraints, and the mission does not pause while engineering teams work through them.

A mission command platform must therefore do more than support a fixed list of previously configured systems. It must be able to adapt as new capabilities arrive, normalize their information, and make that information operationally useful without creating additional complexity for the user.

As UNIFY.C2 CEO Jerry McGee observed:

“EXTiC 26-2 demonstrated that interoperability cannot remain theoretical.”

The event provided an opportunity to demonstrate that principle against systems that had not been connected to UNIFY.C2 before the exercise.

One Picture Instead of More Screens

The value of rapid integration is not measured only by how many systems can be connected.

The operational value comes from what happens after they are connected.

A radar track, RF detection, identification message, optical observation, or other sensor report provides only one part of the situation. When those sources remain in separate applications, operators must manually compare information across multiple screens and determine whether separate detections represent the same aircraft or event.

UNIFY.C2 brings those sources together so detections and tracks can be correlated within the same mission environment. This reduces fragmentation and gives operators a clearer path from detection to assessment and response.

The objective is not to introduce another standalone interface. It is to reduce the number of disconnected systems an operator must manage while preserving the detail provided by each source.

What EXTiC 26-2 Reinforced

The event reinforced several principles that continue to shape modern Counter-UAS operations.

No single modality provides the complete picture

Different sensor types see different parts of the airspace problem. Effective Counter-UAS operations require complementary technologies working together rather than dependence on one detection method.

Interoperability must be tested in realistic environments

A successful laboratory integration does not automatically guarantee field readiness. Operational experimentation exposes network, configuration, environmental, and workflow challenges that may remain hidden during controlled testing.

Integration speed matters

Threats, technologies, and mission requirements continue to change. Operators need architectures that can incorporate new capabilities without requiring a complete redesign of the existing environment.

Command and control is the connective layer

Sensors generate observations. A mission command platform turns those observations into a coordinated operational picture that can support assessment, decision-making, and response.

These lessons closely reflect the broader industry need for layered systems, open interfaces, shared testing environments, and repeatable methods for evaluating Counter-UAS technologies.

From Experimentation to Operational Use

EXTiC supports the broader Transforming in Contact initiative, which emphasizes evaluating emerging technologies alongside operational stakeholders in representative environments.

The goal is to identify capabilities that can contribute to real mission threads and accelerate their movement from experimentation toward operational use. The program also seeks to establish repeatable and cost-effective methods for evaluating future technologies.

For UNIFY.C2, participation in EXTiC 26-2 provided an opportunity to demonstrate how a vendor-neutral mission command platform can adapt to unfamiliar technologies, connect diverse data sources, and provide operators with one coherent view of evolving airspace activity.

The event reinforced a straightforward principle: interoperability is most valuable when it can be established quickly, proven under realistic conditions, and delivered without increasing the burden on the operator.