Northrop Grumman [NOC] said Wednesday it has delivered the first of six production Engagement Operations Centers for the new Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) to Poland.
Poland is the first international customer for the new IBCS future command system and is procuring the capability through its WISLA air and missile defense modernization program.
“As Poland acquires IBCS to modernize their air defenses, they are also taking major steps toward real Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and mission readiness in the future battlespace,” Christine Harbison, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager for combat systems and mission readiness, said in a statement. “Multiple live exercises and flight tests have demonstrated the JADC2 capabilities inherent in IBCS’ architecture.”
Poland signed on to become the first international IBCS operator after agreeing to a $4.75 billion deal with the U.S. in March 2018 to purchase the Patriot missile defense system along with the new Northrop Grumman-built battle command system (Defense Daily, March 28 2018).
A year later, the Army awarded Northrop Grumman a $713 million deal to produce IBCS for Poland, including IBCS engagement operations centers and integrated fire control network relays designed to deliver IBCS net-enabled command and control for four firing units (Defense Daily, March 15 2019).
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.
The Army in December awarded Northrop Grumman a potential $1.4 billion deal for IBCS production, covering delivery of up to 160 systems (Defense Daily, Dec. 23).
Northrop Grumman said in March the Army had conducted two recent successful flight tests with IBCS during the program’s initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E), one that involved intercepting a high-speed tactical ballistic missile and another where two cruise missile targets were taken out “in a stressing electronic attack environment” (Defense Daily, March 17).
A third and final flight test during the IOT&E phase for IBCS is slated for this fall and a full rate-production decision is slated for fiscal year 2023, according to the Army.