US Army receives first production delivery of Integrated Battle Command System equipment

News, US February 6, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

The U.S. Army received the first production item for the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS). Northrop Grumman has already delivered the Integrated Collaborative Environment (ICE) and aims to deliver additional major end items in early 2024.

The American defense firm Northrop Grumman is working at an accelerated pace to support the U.S. Army’s modernization schedule, the company said in a statement released on February 01, 2024.

Northrop Grumman is producing IBCS equipment and providing product engineering and logistics support to the U.S. Army as part of the Low-Rate Initial Production contract.

The Integrated Collaborative Environment is a modular, electromagnetic interference-protected shelter hosting battle management workstations. The system facilitates warfighters to conduct air and missile defense planning and defensive operations.

According to the Northrop Grumman statement, the company is currently working to deliver other major end items to the U.S. Army, including the Engagement Operation Centers (EOC) and Integrated Fire Control Network (IFCN) relays.

Vice president and general manager of combat systems and mission readiness at Northrop Grumman, Rebecca Torzone said, “Northrop Grumman is working at an accelerated delivery schedule because the U.S. Army and its allies understand the power of IBCS and how it revolutionizes the warfighter’s approach to the battlespace. Providing IBCS equipment for testing and fielding brings more accurate decision making, improved situational awareness, and a shield of security to the warfighter.”

A Northrop Grumman produced Engagement Operations Center (EOC) and Interactive Collaborative Environment (ICE) emplaced at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. (Image Source: U.S. Army) — *^{A Northrop Grumman produced Engagement Operations Center (EOC) and Interactive Collaborative Environment (ICE) emplaced at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. (Image Credit: U.S. Army)}*

The Integrated Battle Command System is the next-gen command and control system and a foundational element for the multi-domain, multi-national future. It has an open, modular, scalable, and resilient architecture that is essential to integrating all available U.S. forces assets in the battlespace.

The IBCS architecture allows the effective integration of existing and future systems. Northrop Grumman has conducted numerous successful tests and demonstrations of IBCS and validated the system’s ability to “connect and fuse multi-service sensor data to multi-service weapons” demonstrating Joint All-Domain Command and Control capabilities.

The revolutionary command and control system is the centerpiece of the U.S. Army’s air and missile defense modernization strategy, which enables forces to maintain an edge over adversaries while reducing mission risk. According to Northrop Grumman, “It has the ability to rapidly network any sensor, including fielded and developmental radars, to any shooter and deliver decision-quality fire control data across joint networks.”

^{Northrop Grumman integrated the widest variety of sensors to date on the Integrated Fire Control Network for an IBCS test, including one Marine Corps Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar, two Army Sentinel radars, one Army Patriot radar, and two U.S. Air Force F-35 fighter aircraft. (Image Credit: Northrop Grumman)}

Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Don Fryc said, “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.”

Don Fryc, who is serving as Northrop Grumman’s business development manager, said: “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.”