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. 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 is pioneering 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.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
