Miles Jamison 
- SHEPRD is being deployed across I Corps through the Army’s NGC2 architecture
- The LMI capability combines threat, asset, terrain, route and protection-coverage data
- Soldiers evaluated SHEPRD during Ivy Sting and Project Convergence-Capstone 6
The U.S. Army is fielding LMI’s SHEPRD troop protection capability to I Corps through its Next Generation Command and Control, or NGC2, architecture.
What Is SHEPRD?
LMI said SHEPRD is a commercial application designed to help soldiers identify potential threats early, safeguard key assets and accelerate decision-making on the battlefield. The platform was developed for the Army’s NGC2 ecosystem and evaluated during the Ivy Sting and Project Convergence-Capstone 6 exercises.
SHEPRD was launched in March as a digital platform for military protection cells. The company said the Army can rapidly scale the capability across I Corps because it was already built and prototyped through Army exercises. LMI also said its forward-deployed engineers refined the platform based on how soldiers used it during operational scenarios. The approach builds on LMI’s earlier work with Anduril to rapidly develop and refine NGC2 applications during Army exercises.
What Will SHEPRD Provide to I Corps?
The capability is designed to give Army protection cells access to information on threats, military assets, routes, terrain and protection coverage in a common command-and-control view.
The deployment extends the capability across I Corps, the Army’s operational headquarters for the Pacific, which works with joint and allied partners throughout the theater.
What Did LMI Executives Say About the SHEPRD Deployment?
Graham Evans, president of national security at LMI, said the Department of War wants industry to take a new approach to delivering advanced technology to warfighters more quickly. He said LMI does this by applying its mission expertise to identify operational gaps early and investing before demand emerges.
“With SHEPRD, this approach helped create a working capability that was ready when the Army needed it,” Evans said.
LMI Chief Technology Officer Jared Summers said the company worked directly with soldiers and delivered SHEPRD updates within 24 hours.
“Being able to scale at mission speed means ensuring you’re delivering what Soldiers actually need,” Summers said.
