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Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS)

The Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) connects sensors and effectors never designed to work together into one command and control system so warfighters can see and act on data across the entire battlefield more swiftly. IBCS as a program came together in 2004, the first requirements for it, but it took close to 20 years, 2023, before it declared an IOC.

Developed in partnership with Northrop Grumman, IBCS is the centerpiece of the U.S. Army’s modernization strategy for air and missile defense capability. The system’s resilient, open, modular, scalable architecture is foundational to deploying a truly integrated network of all available assets in the battlespace, regardless of source, service or domain. IBCS enables the efficient and affordable integration of current and future systems, including assets deployed over IP-enabled networks, counter-UAS systems, 4th- and 5th-generation aircraft, space-based sensors and more. It senses, identifies, tracks and defeats evolving air and missile threats, enabling revolutionary “multi-domain, any sensor, best effector” operations.

Northrop Grumman pioneered joint multi-domain command and control with IBCS. Its modular, open systems architecture and ability to integrate, transport and access data provides one of JADC2’s foundational goals – the ability to connect and fuse multi-Service sensor data to multi-Service weapons, enabling decisions at relevant speed and achieve operational advantage over adversaries.

IBCS’s capacity to enable joint, multi-domain integration and command and control capabilities is inherent of its architecture. The proof of this architecture continues to be showcased in developmental and operational tests of the system.

Historically, adding more warfighting capacity meant fielding more assets, but the world had changed. With increasingly complex operations, adding more assets will not enable scaling fast enough to outpace the threat. Countering that threat also demands a truly integrated approach across domains and coalition partners. Northrop Grumman has responded to this capability gap by building on its proven command and control technologies like the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) to deliver one battlespace, integrated across all domains and coalition partners to enable commanders to see and act on an integrated view of sensors and shooters.

Northrop Grumman’s Don Fryc, business development manager, sees this as “paradigm changing.” Fryc was a 34-year career U.S. Army Air Defender that culminated with him serving as the Commanding General of 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command. Thinking back to his first assignment as a Stinger team chief leading a two-person unit with two radios to provide situational awareness, he believes that “the change Northrop Grumman is making with the IBCS-connected battlespace is the Army’s equivalent of moving from the horse to the tank – it is that transformational.” Fryc further explains, “Northrop Grumman is delivering today on our vision of a battlespace where the fight is fundamentally changed by integrating air and missile defense to deliver a decision advantage through a multi-national and multi-domain battlespace, allowing warfighters make faster, more accurate, joint decisions to defeat any threat.”

This company vision, known as BattleOneTM, draws upon Northrop Grumman’s proven battle management capabilities, offering warfighters scale and flexibility to meet the needs of their unique mission. IBCS serves as a fundamental element with its ability to unify all sensors and effectors in the battlespace, allowing the most effective weapon to take out the threat. IBCS is proven, mature and ready to enable this vision of a connected battlespace.

IBCS connects multi-service and multi-national sensors and effectors, never designed to work together, into one command and control system so warfighters can see and act on data across the entire battlefield more rapidly. The integration it provides is the cornerstone of modern air and missile defense modernization strategy, having the ability to replace multiple, current air and missile defense command and control systems with a single system. This integrated network created by IBCS enables revolutionary multi-domain, any sensor, best effector operations.

“Through modular, open and scalable architectures, we give warfighters capabilities they never had before by fusing data, expanding the battlespace and extending the capability of existing assets,” said Rebecca Torzone, vice president and general manager, combat systems and mission readiness, Northrop Grumman. “Northrop Grumman is delivering ready and proven capabilities that make it affordable for our customers to modernize the way they connect sensors and effectors across domains and partners.”

With IBCS, the future of command and control across the spectrum of sensors and effectors is unlocked through the ability to provide an open, modular and scalable architecture that is foundational in deploying a truly integrated network of all available assets, regardless of source, service or domain to achieve an operational advantage. Ready today, warfighters are able to receive and see information through a single, actionable view of the fight, allowing them to make informed decisions across the entire battlespace and ultimately, respond more swiftly.

Northrop Grumman is pioneering joint all-domain command and control with IBCS. The system’s resilient, open, modular, scalable architecture is foundational to deploying a truly integrated network of all available assets in the battlespace, regardless of source, service or domain. IBCS enables the efficient and affordable integration of current and future systems, including assets deployed over IP-enabled networks, counter-UAS systems, 4th- and 5th-generation aircraft, space-based sensors and more. It senses, identifies, tracks and defeats evolving air and missile threats, enabling revolutionary “all-domain, every sensor, best effector” operations.

On July 15, 2021 the U.S. Army successfully engaged a cruise missile target in an highly contested electronic attack environment during a developmental flight test using the Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS). IBCS integrated a U.S. Marine Corps G/ATOR radar, two U.S. Air Force F-35 fighter aircraft, and the U.S. Navy’s Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) on the IBCS Integrated Fire Control Network (IFCN).

This was the eighth of eight successful developmental or operational flight tests performed with the IBCS program. The test was conducted as risk reduction prior to beginning the Initial Operational Test & Evaluation (IOT&E) phase. IOT&E is a comprehensive test of IBCS system performance which will be conducted under realistic operational conditions prior to system employment. The IOT&E informs a Department of Defense and U.S. Army initial operational capability decision.

The test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico demonstrated the integration of IBCS and the U.S. Marine Corps AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) system, also manufactured by Northrop Grumman. The flight test incorporated first-time live testing and demonstration of a Joint Track Manager Capability (JTMC) which provided a bridge between IBCS and the Navy’s Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC), enabling the sharing of G/ATOR track data on the IBCS Integrated Fire Control Network (IFCN). With support from Lockheed Martin, the flight test architecture also incorporated two F-35 combat aircraft integrated on the IFCN with on board sensors contributing to the IBCS developed joint composite track used to perform the engagement.

“The integration of additional sensors from multiple services continues to show the power inherent in the IBCS architecture and design to incorporate and integrate joint sensors across multiple domains,” said Christine Harbison, vice president and general manager, combat systems and mission readiness, Northrop Grumman. “By enabling joint operation and utilizing multiple sensors operating in various bands, IBCS was able to operate through the electronic attack environment so soldiers can identify, track and ultimately intercept the threat.”

Two surrogate cruise missiles were launched in the test, one performing the electronic attack mission to disrupt radar performance, and the other flying a threat profile targeting friendly assets. Soldiers of the 3-6 Air and Missile Defense Test Detachment used IBCS to track the surrogate cruise missile targets, identify the threatening missile, and launch a Patriot Advanced Capability Three (PAC-3) interceptor.

The Gallium Nitride-based AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR is a digital, software-defined advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) multi-mission radar that provides comprehensive real time, full-sector, 360-degree situational tracking against a broad array of threats.

The Polish government selected IBCS to serve as the centerpiece of the country’s modernization strategy for their WISLA Medium Range air and missile defense program, becoming the first international partner to acquire this transformational capability.

The Integrated Fires Mission Command Project Office, under Program Executive Office Missiles and Space, received the first complete Integrated Battle Command System delivery as part of the low-rate initial production on April 22, 2024. Integrated Battle Command System, or IBCS, is the cornerstone of air and missile defense modernization efforts, providing transformational mission command with increased capabilities to the battlefield faster.

"The completion of this first delivery is the result of unparalleled dedication from amazing professionals. It has been a privilege to lead a team with such a high level of skill and commitment," said Army Col. Chris Hill, IFMC Project Office project manager. "This accomplishment is an excellent example of what we can achieve when our military, industry partners, government civilians and contractors successfully collaborate on our mission.”

The Integrated Air and Missile Defense program was among the first Army efforts to enter the DOD agile software pathway process. Agile software development, coupled with warfighter prioritization and hardware development, has enabled faster adaptation to new capabilities and threats, ensuring increased consistency across all aspects of production. The program is at the forefront of the Army’s renewed vision of digital transformation.

IBCS is comprised of three major end items: the Integrated Collaborative Environment, the Engagement Operation Center and the Integrated Fire Control Network Relay. The ICE is a modular shelter that provides a collaborative environment for battlefield mission command. The EOC is an integrated fire control center that provides the engagement operations function for IBCS. The IFCN Relay performs dual functions, providing the interface for the adapted sensors and weapons and serving as a communications relay to extend battlefield operations distances.

"IBCS is the critical mission command component of our Army's modernized air and missile defense capabilities. It is the cornerstone of our efforts to integrate future components and qualify the architecture within our annual Integrated Fires Test Campaign," said Army Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano, Program Executive Officer Missiles and Space. "This delivery is the result of excellent work by the entire team focused on modernizing our air and missile defense systems while getting this equipment to our Soldiers as quickly as possible."

The IFMC Project Office is helping to modernize the US Army by integration, synchronization and collaboration between all air and missile defense components. Integration efforts leverage legacy and future sensors and shooters, allowing for a single integrated air picture and coordination between fielded assets. The fusion between existing joint systems and future developmental programs with IBCS increases overall effectiveness, dramatically enhancing the ability to track, identify, engage and defend against diverse threats.

The U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office Missiles and Space Integrated Fires Mission Command and the 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment\, successfully used the Integrated Battle Command System to conduct a missile flight test on 02 October 2025. The test demonstrated the Army’s advanced capabilities in countering air and missile threats in a contested environment. This missile flight test was the culmination of the IBCS Follow-On Operational Test and Evaluation. The test demonstrated IBCS’s ability to execute the kill chain against two maneuvering cruise missiles in a contested environment. Using IBCS, Soldiers from the 3-43 ADA Battalion tracked the incoming threat, identified the hostile missiles, and neutralized both targets with two first-interceptor kills.

The IBCS changed how the Army defends against emerging air and missile threats. The system operates on an "any-sensor, best-weapon" principle. It integrates real-time data from a diverse array of sensors to create a unified battlespace picture. This capability optimizes weapon employment, enhances resilience under attack, and ensures rapid response to evolving threats. The test was further proof of the Army’s commitment to advancing its air and missile defense capabilities to meet the challenges of modern warfare. The Army continues to ensure the readiness and effectiveness of its forces in defending against complex and dynamic threats with cutting-edge technologies like the IBCS.

GEN (Ret.) Charles Flynn, Former Commanding General of U.S. Army Pacific, at MDAA's 86th Congressional Roundtable Virtual Event, What Is IBCS?, 22 October 2025, stated : " IBCS was supposed to be transformational. It would be the brain of the Army's air and missile defense enterprise. It was going to connect any sensor, any shooter, fusing radars together, launchers, interceptors, all into one seamless network. The idea was right. The vision was bold. The stakes couldn't have been higher. But in practice, in my view, I think the Army took on too much too fast and it did it kind of, I'll say, all at once. ....

"New software being coded, new radars being built, new interceptors being tested, new units being formed in the global deployment cycle that frankly did not slow down. It was the definition of a perfect storm. Every piece, radar, launcher, interceptor software was moving on its own timeline, on its own budget, and with its own leadership team. And it was modernization by concurrency, not by sequence. And the result was predictable. Software instability, integration failures, and mounting frustration between industry, program officers, and the war fighters, operators, commanders in the field....

"At one point, the system's hardware footprint was so large and so, I'll say static, just for the sake of this discussion, that it probably could not have survived the kind of distributed fight that we were being faced with in the Indo-Pacific. Eventually, IBCS made it to full rate production....

"We often move faster in our ambition than we do in our adaptation. Doctrine training, sustainment, adjustments, all while organizations, technology, and capabilities were changing. It simply could not keep pace with the speed of the engineering changes that were going on at the same time. And we also allowed industry's influence to shape integration more than the operational reality did. I think that's a key point here. Each contractor optimized for their deliverable, not the total system's effect. ...

"You can't modernize an entire missile defense force, synchronize multiple primes, and sustain nonstop global deployments without paying a price, and boy, we paid a price. 20 years, $8 billion, IBCS became that price. Delays, budget growth, and operators waiting on capability that was supposed to make their mission easier, not harder."