Version 2.0 of Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense BCS software released
NewsDecember 11, 2012
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. Northrop Grumman Corp. engineers unleashed Version 2.0 of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) software for the U.S. Army.
This release upgrades the Version 1.0 release from the spring of 2011. New features added include enhanced interfaces with Patriot, Sentinel radar and Link 16. More combat aids also have been added to the Common Warfighter Machine Interface (CWMI).
The CWMI upgrades resulted from several Warfighter Experiments held at Fort Sill, Okla., during the last three years. During the experiments, air defense warfighters were trained in user interface alternatives, measured for performance and accuracy, and then asked for suggestions on improvement.
This release is a critical step toward an Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense [AIAMD] demonstration that is planned for 2013, says Kelley Zelickson, Northrop Grumman Information Systems vice president of air and missile defense systems. The open architecture that will enable any sensor and any shooter to be plugged into the Army's integrated fire control network.
Version 2.0 of the software was built upon Northrop Grumman's Joint Track Management Capability (JTMC) demonstrated in the fall of 2011. During this demonstration composite air tracks were shared between the Army Integrated Fire Control Network and Navy Cooperative Engagement Capability for the first time.
The AIAMD demonstration will include IBCS V2.1 software, and other Army systems – Patriot and Sentinel, and will be the first display of IBCS directing fires for AIAMD weapons.
IBCS, which originated from analysis of Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom operations for improving mission command, will establish an open, network-centric system-of-systems solution for integrating weapons, sensors, and battle management command, control, communications and intelligence systems.
IBCS utilizes a plug-and-fight approach for so that future systems can be easily integrated, enabling warfighters to take advantage of integrated Army and joint sensors and weapons. The IBCS enterprise environment focuses on warfighter decision processes and tools to optimize time-critical engagements.
Northrop Grumman's IBCS industry team includes The Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., Harris Corp., Schafer Corp., nLogic Inc., Numerica Corp., Colsa Corp., 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.
