Northrop Grumman Corporation, MBDA and Saab announced that they successfully integrated MBDA’s Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) family and Saab’s Giraffe radar system family into Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS).
CAMM was the first non-US missile system to be demonstrated with IBCS earlier this year, and Giraffe represents the first non-US sensor system to be demonstrated.
The three companies demonstrated rapid and functional integration during simulated threat scenarios that included simultaneous engagements. Simulated air targets were fed to the Giraffe radar emulator, which passed the radar information to IBCS to assess and track threats.
IBCS operators planned and executed optimized engagements based on that data using the CAMM missile emulators which engaged multiple threats simultaneously. IBCS then closed the loop by displaying the outgoing missiles detected and reported by the Giraffe emulators. The event successfully demonstrated both Distributed Fire Direction and Advanced Integrated Fire Control engagements.
“Building on lessons learned from the CAMM family integration, we were able to integrate the Giraffe radar onto the IBCS network even more rapidly and cost effectively, continuing to demonstrate the dynamic and flexible nature of IBCS’s open architecture in adding capabilities when and as needed,” said Bill Lamb, director, international battle management, Northrop Grumman. “Together we are creating a revolutionary IAMD enterprise that maximizes the combat potential of all sensors and weapons across all domains and fills gaps in today’s air defense capabilities.”
MBDA’s CAMM family is the next generation of air defense missiles for multi-domain applications. The CAMM family of missiles feature a solid-state active radar seeker, two way data-link, low-signature rocket motor and a 360° soft-vertical launch system.
“In this event we were able to demonstrate multiple simultaneous engagements of a full range of contemporary threats, using targeting information from networked surveillance sensors,” said Ben Newland, ground based air defence programme head, MBDA.
Saab’s Giraffe AMB radar delivers capabilities as part of short- and medium-range surveillance and ground based air defense.
IBCS creates a paradigm shift for IAMD by replacing legacy stove-piped systems with a next-generation, net-centric approach to better address the evolving complex threat. The system integrates disparate radars and weapons to construct a far more effective IAMD enterprise.
The system delivers a single integrated air picture and broadens surveillance and protection areas. With its open systems architecture, IBCS allows incorporation of current and future sensors and effectors and interoperability with joint C2 and the ballistic missile defense system.
IBCS is managed by the US Army Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
