Northrop Grumman to improve air battle management capabilities of Army's IBCS network

May 1, 2015
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., 1 May 2015. Command and control experts at Northrop Grumman Corp. are moving forward on an air battle management program to create a single, unambiguous view of the air battlespace to enable commanders to deal with uncertain information, short timelines.
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., 1 May 2015.Command and control experts at Northrop Grumman Corp. are moving forward on an air battle management program to create a single, unambiguous view of the air battlespace to enable commanders to deal with uncertain information, short timelines.

Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., announced a $7.3 million contract Thursday to the Northrop Grumman Information Systems segment in Huntsville, Ala., for additional work on the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS).

Northrop Grumman is developing the revolutionary air command-and-control (C2) system to help air and missile defenders make quick decisions and adapt quickly to changing battlefield conditions.

The IBCS helps enhance aircraft and missile tracking to enable combatant commanders and air defenders to make critical decisions within seconds, Northrop Grumman officials say.

The IBCS represents a modular open-systems architecture to optimize limited resources and facilitate flexible defense designs, company officials say.

Related: DARPA releases solicitation for DBM program to plan air battles with limited communications

The IBCS enables commanders to tailor organizations, sensors, and weapons to meet the demands of diverse missions, environments, and rules of engagement not achievable today, Northrop Grumman officials say. It provides wide-area surveillance and broad protection areas by networking sensors and interceptors.

The IBCS replaces seven legacy command-and-control systems with network-centric battle management to reduce single points of failure and increase the flexibility for deploying small force packages. The system creates a standard approach across forces to reduce logistics burdens and change training.

The system allows affordable integration of current and future sensors, weapons, and modernization efforts, and helps connect systems for joint and cooperative multinational missile defense.

On this contract Northrop Grumman will do the work in Huntsville, Ala., and should be finished by September 2016. For more information contact Northrop Grumman Information Systems online at www.northropgrumman.com, or the Army Contracting Command-Redstone at http://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-rsa.

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Military Aerospace, create an account today!