The Manuel W. Lloyd® Report

Decision advantage dies the moment “trust” requires the outside world

Written by Manuel "Manny" W. Lloyd | Jan 25, 2026 12:11:31 AM

CJADC2 exists to deliver decision advantage “at the speed of relevance.” [media.defense.gov], [ai.mil]

But here’s the quiet failure mode nobody wants to say out loud:

If your AI requires an external trust anchor to function—the adversary doesn’t need to hack you.
They just need to deny you. [media.defense.gov],

Warfighting missions cannot pause to “re-establish trust.”
They either continue without assurance or they halt.

That is why DoD is prioritizing pilots across warfighting AI use cases—including C2/decision support, operational planning, logistics, intelligence, information operations, and cyber operations. Because these are the domains where denial forces the truth. [ai.mil]

Inevitability: AI that cannot remain available, governable, and trusted under denial will be treated as a liability—not a capability.