HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Nov. 15, 2011 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) capabilities played a key role in the Composite Track Network Bridging Capability Demonstration conducted Sept. 27-29. The first-time event successfully demonstrated the unprecedented real-time data exchange from all participating sensors and systems from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to form a Single Integrated Air Picture (SIAP).
The SIAP is the product of fused, common, continuous, unambiguous tracks of all airborne objects in the surveillance area so that joint military operations share a single graphical representation of the battlespace.
The demonstration was proof-of-concept for the real-time exchange of associated measurement reports from participating sensors â connected by the Army's Integrated Fire Control Network and the Navy's Cooperative Engagement Capability network â to form the SIAP. Northrop Grumman's IBCS track manager modules passed associated measurement reports from diverse sensors "over the air," which allowed participating service nodes to build high-fidelity composite tracks based on data from all the sensors on the network to create the SIAP.
"This was a remarkable event to establish the foundation for real-time sharing of extremely accurate information between ships, aircraft and land-based air defense units for more effective engagement," said Kelley Zelickson, vice president of air and missile defense systems for Northrop Grumman Information Systems. "Northrop Grumman products clearly demonstrated the ability to allow modular interoperability among disparate systems and networks, and I'm proud of our IBCS team's continued accomplishments to advance the nation's joint air and missile defense capabilities."
Northrop Grumman provided technology development, test and integration and logistics coordination for the demonstration under the direction of Army Program Executive Office, Missiles and Space (PEO MS). The demonstration was conducted across laboratories in Huntsville, Ala., and Dahlgren, Va. Eight different radars participated in the demonstration and the nine composite network nodes were each able to access the associated measurement reports from all sensors to form the same SIAP.
The IBCS program resulted from analysis of Operation Iraqi Freedom operations to improve battle command as a top priority for reducing fratricide incidents. IBCS will establish an open systems, 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 ensure current and future systems can be easily incorporated, allowing warfighters to take advantage of expanded sensor and weapon system combinations.
The IBCS program is being managed by the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Project Office, PEO MS in Huntsville, Ala.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
CONTACT: Sudi Bruni
(858) 592-3407
sudi.bruni@ngc.com