Pentagon appoints new Maven Smart System program director in fresh push for C2 integration
Pentagon leadership recently appointed Army Col. Molly Solsbury to serve as Maven Smart System program director inside the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office.
Multiple sources suggested that her team’s launch is intended to further anchor MSS as a core operational cornerstone for command-and-control integration across the U.S. military.
However, they cautioned that the Defense Department has not disclosed much at all about near-term progress demonstrating those capabilities moving beyond fragmented deployments to scale in the combatant commands with enhanced support from the CDAO.
In response to questions from DefenseScoop this week, a Pentagon official said Solsbury joined the office at a time when the department “is continuing to evaluate programmatic options to ensure our warfighters have access to C2 capabilities at the best value for the American taxpayer.”
DOD has been hustling for years to realize its strategic vision for Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2. The Pentagon’s overarching aim is to enable a “network of networks” that securely links all of the military’s sensors, data, weapons and decision-makers across the services and combat domains.
Palantir’s widely-used software platform, the Maven Smart System — which has roots in DOD’s now-defunct Project Maven — is emerging as a key operational asset and interoperable user interface powering the department’s foundational plans for CJADC2.
Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg issued a memorandum in March directing DOD and military leaders to mature MSS into a formal program of record by the end of this fiscal year, in September.
“Transitioning MSS to a POR will provide the stable funding and resourcing necessary for deliberate, sustained development and enterprise-wide integration to give our commanders the C2 necessary to fight and win wars,” Feinberg wrote in that memo.
Budget materials for fiscal 2027 published by the Pentagon around that time included a request for more than $1.5 billion to expand defense users’ access to Palantir’s MSS in support of the department’s little-known “Joint Force AI-Enabled Headquarters initiative.”
Those documents stated that the funding would “expand enterprise access to Joint C2 capabilities to Services across echelon and provide deliberate, sustained development and enterprise-wide integration.”
Earlier this year, DOD leaders also floated the idea of establishing an Enterprise Command and Control Program Office that would combine and expand the CDAO’s Maven Smart System and Edge Data Mesh capabilities into a new platform and program of record for CJADC2 and Al-enabled warfighting options.
Sources who spoke to DefenseScoop on the condition of anonymity over the last month said that Col. Solsbury is steering activities related to that work as the new MSS program director within the CDAO and DOD’s Research and Engineering directorate.
A Pentagon official did not directly clarify the status of CJADC2 integration across the commands, or discuss whether all CoComs can access the most up-to-date technologies through MSS at this time, in response to questions from DefenseScoop this week.
“CDAO continues to support Combatant Commands through its primary directorates and functions, including MSS, War Data Platform, GenAI.mil, and the Department’s AI Acceleration Strategy Pace-Setting Projects,” the Pentagon official said.
According to Solsbury’s official CDAO bio, as MSS program director she is responsible for facilitating the office’s efforts to partner as a service-level experimentation support organization that enables the seamless expansion and integration of the Palantir platform across the joint force.
Solsbury previously served as the director of the Chief of Staff of the Army Coordination Group, and on operational tours with the 1st SFOD (Delta), 82nd Airborne Division, Joint Special Operations Command, and 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). She commanded the 513th Military Intelligence Brigade (Theater) and participated in campaigns in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan and North Africa.
Notably, beyond her experience in special operations and as a senior intelligence officer in the Middle East, Solsbury also entered the CDAO after leading technology, data, digital modernization and innovation-focused initiatives as a director for JSOCx and Project Ridgway.
