- The Army is preparing new guidance to address intelligence challenges facing soldiers
- The intelligence CON will focus on sensing, collection, analysis and data exploitation
- The 2026 Intel Summit on Sept. 24 will examine technology’s role in reshaping intelligence operations.
The U.S. Army is drafting characteristics of need, or CON, for intelligence to detail the intelligence-related challenges soldiers encounter, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.
What Is the Intelligence Characteristics of Need?
The CON for intelligence is a document intended to address challenges involving sensing, collection, analysis and data exploitation. Joseph Welch, the Army’s portfolio acquisition executive for command and control and counter-command and control, said it marks the third CON under his portfolio. He added that the document is now ready for senior Army leaders to review, with a decision expected soon.
Sensing, collection and data exploitation are central to the Army’s evolving intelligence requirements. Explore these and other intelligence technology priorities at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Intel Summit on Sept. 24. Register today!
How Is the Army Using Characteristics of Needs?
The Army uses CONs to describe broad problems and invite industry to develop potential approaches. Welch, a past speaker at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2022 Army Summit, described the documents as the service’s north star, which serves as a guide to help the Army decide what direction to take regarding certain challenges.
The approach is intended to bring industry into the requirements process earlier. In 2025, an Army Futures Command official said CONs allow vendors to identify themselves as potential contributors to military challenges rather than requiring the Army to define a specific capability before engaging industry.
“They don’t explain exactly how to do everything, but when we evaluate the potential of doing things, we look at it,” Welch said.
The Army released a CON for next-generation command and control in May 2024 and a CON for electromagnetic spectrum operations, or EMSO, in February. It plans to issue another one for training and simulation.
Welch said the previous documents have proven successful. The EMSO CON has already been used to guide the Army’s search for commercial capabilities. In April, the service launched the Rapid Electromagnetic Warfare and Signals Intelligence, or REWSI, initiative to identify commercially available technologies for its electromagnetic warfare and signals intelligence missions.
The EMSO CON also aligns with the Army’s Electromagnetic Warfare Rapid Integration System, or ERIS, program. In May, the service selected Pacific Defense Strategies, SRC and Herrick Technology Laboratories to develop ERIS prototypes under separate contracts.
