U.S. Army demos multidomain, joint-force weapons during live-air exercise
NewsDecember 13, 2017
YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz. The U.S. Army and Northrop Grumman recently conducted the second phase of what the Army calls its Soldier Checkout Event (SCOE), during which it tested its Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS), during a live-air exercise.
Soldiers from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, used IBCS to direct Army air and missile defense sensors and weapons to conduct multistage, multidomain air defense operations as part of a higher-echelon joint task force with the Marine Corps.
During the SCOE -- held over three weeks earlier in fall 2017 -- IBCS pulled together data from air, ground, and marine sensors to form an integrated air picture. According to officials at Northrop Grumman, IBCS netcentric operations served as valuable counters to electronic attacks by maintaining tracks on objects even when individual sensors could not. IBCS was also able, they say, to correct radar biases and decipher closely spaced objects to enhance the accuracy of the integrated air picture for the benefit of all joint Link-16 (a military tactical data-exchange network) message users. The live-air SCOE tested the sensors using a dozen airborne platforms, including unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, attack aircraft, tanker aircraft, early-warning aircraft, tilt-rotor aircraft, and electronic attack aircraft.
Dan Verwiel, vice president and general manager, missile defense and protective systems, Northrop Grumman, said of the SCOE: “The preliminary analysis indicates all test objectives were accomplished. In an operational environment that included electronic attack, we showed the value of IBCS to resolve ambiguity in the air picture and deliver more accurate target tracking data to support joint integrated air and missile defense.”
