Northrop Grumman [NOC] has completed delivery of the first full set of Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) equipment to the U.S. Army, the company said on Monday.
The Army has officially received the first IBCS Engagement Operations Center (EOC) and Integrated Fire Control Network (IFCN) Relays from Northrop Grumman, which follows an initial delivery of an Integrated Collaborative Environment this past December.
“A complete IBCS set allows the Army to conduct the necessary training to deploy IBCS’ ready now, cutting-edge command and control system powering unprecedented multi-domain integration,” Northrop Grumman said in a statement.
IBCS is the Army’s future missile defense command platform, designed to integrate and connect the service’s full range of “sensor to shooter” capabilities, with the service to date having integrated a range of sensors and capabilities with the system to include the Sentinel A3 radar, Patriot radar, the new LTAMDS radar and the Indirect Fire Protection Capacity effector.
Col. Chris Hill, the Army’s program manager for integrated fires mission command, told reporters in March the Army plans to begin fielding its first unit with the IBCS capability by this December (Defense Daily, March 26).
Following delivery of the first IBCS kit to 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment in December, Hill said the Army will move into follow-on operational and evaluation (FOT&E) by February 2025 as it aims to field a second battalion and work to complete deliveries to a third by July 2025.
This first full set of equipment will support initial activities leading into FOT&E in 2025, Northrop Grumman said on Monday.
The Army in December 2021 awarded Northrop Grumman a potential $1.4 billion deal for IBCS low-rate production and the program was then approved for full rate production last April (Defense Daily, April 12 2023).
Northrop Grumman said on Monday the Army in May awarded the company a $145 million full-rate production order for IBCS equipment.
“IBCS is ready now to provide our warfighters more decision time in the battlespace to outpace tomorrow’s threats. Northrop Grumman is committed to putting IBCS in the hands of our warfighters at an accelerated delivery rate so they can lead the way in modernized air and missile defense,” Rebecca Torzone, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager of combat systems and mission readiness, said in a statement.
Poland, the first international customer for IBCS, received its initial production capability before the U.S. Army and reached basic operational capability with the system last September (Defense Daily, Sept. 11 2023).