This year, NATO commanders will have real-time missile defense situational awareness under contracts with Team SAIC and ThalesRaytheonSystems, the NATO C3 Agency said.
The NATO Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) program has taken this step by the June 18 signing of two contacts that will provide NATO Commanders with an enhanced capability to plan and direct tactical ballistic missile defense operations to protect deployed forces.
ALTBMD Program Manager Alessandro Pera signed separate contracts with Team SAIC and Thales Raytheon Systems, and initiated work within the NATO C3 Agency to field by the end of the year a capability to provide real time missile defense situational awareness to a NATO air defense commander.
“With the active support of [Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe] SHAPE, the contract effort was put in place in a very short time, which shows the commitment and efficiency of the entire team to expeditiously increase the command & control capability of the NATO military organization,” Pera said.
In addition to providing, for the first time, a real time picture of missile defense operations, the Interim Capability (InCa) Step 2 will enhance the current InCa Step 1 by providing NATO commanders with the ability to rapidly coordinate defenses and enhance their planning capability.
The capability will be available to NATO Commanders by the end of 2010, and the design will be tested for the first time in July in the Joint Project Optic Windmill exercise to be held at the Royal Netherlands Air Force Base De Peel.
“It is a good example of cooperation and synergy between NATO bodies in charge of operations and Command, Control Communication and Information systems, namely SHAPE, NC3A, [NATO Air Command and Control Systems Agency] NACMA and ALTBMD Program Office, with industrial teams to equip NATO forces with state of the art systems,” Pera said.
InCa is an integrated deployable asset that makes use of elements of the (NACMA) (ACCS) Software developed by NACMA and marks its first operational use. It will be available for use where and when necessary to support NATO operations.