Jane Edwards
The U.S. Army has conducted a live-air exercise to evaluate the Northrop Grumman-built Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System in a joint force operational environment.
IBCS helped soldiers gather and combine data from ground and aerial sensors to establish an integrated aerial view needed to carry out multi-domain defense operations with the U.S. Marine Corps during the second phase of the three-week soldier checkout event held in October at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, Northrop said Tuesday.
The system also helped service personnel identify fighter jets, drones and other aerial platforms as “friend or foe,†decode closely spaced objects and rectify radar biases in support of Link-16 message users during the live exercise.
IBCSÂ is a command-and-control system designed to help combatant commanders and air warfighters gain a single picture of the battlespace and field force packages through the integration of sensors, interceptors and other weapon systems.
Dan Verwiel, vice president and general manager for missile defense and protective systems at Northrop, said the exercise seeks to demonstrate the capability of IBCS to address ambiguity in the air picture and ensure the accuracy of target tracking data in support of joint IAMD operations.
Northrop and the Army conducted the initial SCOE testing phase for IBCS in August at Fort Bliss in Texas.
