Version 2.0 of U.S. Army's battle command system software released
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., 12 Dec. 2012. Version 2.0 of the U.S. Army's Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) software has been released.
This release, which was tested at the Northrop Grumman Contractor System Integration Laboratory (C-SIL) in Huntsville, is an upgrade to the Version 1.0 release of April 2011. New features include improved interfaces with Patriot, Sentinel radar and Link 16. Additionally, more combat aids have been added to the Common Warfighter Machine Interface (CWMI).
The CWMI upgrades are a result of several warfighter experiments held at Fort Sill, Okla., over the last three years. At these experiments, air defense soldiers were trained in user interface alternatives, measured for performance and accuracy, and asked for suggestions on improvement.
There is an Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense [AIAMD] demonstration planned for 2013, where the system will be evaluated.
Version 2.0 was built on Northrop Grumman's joint track management capability (JTMC) demonstrated in September 2011. The JTMC demonstration featured the sharing of composite air tracks between the Army Integrated Fire Control Network and Navy Cooperative Engagement Capability. The AIAMD demonstration will include IBCS V2.1 software, as well as other Army systems, Patriot and Sentinel, and will be the first display of IBCS directing fires for AIAMD weapons.
The IBCS program is the result of analysis of Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom operations, and a decision to improve mission command as to reduce fratricide incidents and implement an enterprise approach to command and control. IBCS will establish an open, network-centric system-of-systems solution for integrating sensors, weapons, and battle management command, control, communications and intelligence systems. IBCS uses a plug-and-fight approach to enable the integration of current and future equipment, allowing warfighters to take advantage of integrated Army and joint sensors and weapons. The IBCS enterprise environment focuses on warfighter decision processes and tools.
Northrop Grumman's IBCS industry team includes The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Harris Corporation, Schafer Corporation, nLogic Inc., Numerica Corporation, Colsa Corporation, EpiQ Inc., Space and Mission Defense Technologies, CohesionForce Inc., Daniel H Wagner Associates, QTEC Inc., RhinoCorps, Tobyhanna Army Depot, Ultra Electronics Advanced, SPARTA, a Parsons Company, Instrumental Sciences, Inc., Intelligent Systems Research, Inc., 4M Research, Inc. and Cummings Aerospace, Inc.