The US Army’s Army Integrated Fires Mission Command and soldiers of the 3rd Battalion 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment intercepted a cruise missile employing the Integrated Air & Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) on November 17.
The missile flight test took place at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, and had the objective to demonstrate integrated air & missile defense capability to execute a kill chain against a ground launched cruise missile surrogate.
During the special test event, as the trial is being referred to by the Army, soldiers used the IBCS, Patriot and Sentinel radars with adapted Patriot launchers using Patriot interceptors to take down the cruise missile.
“Today our troops continued to show great proficiency with the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System,” said Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano, Program Executive Officer, Missiles and Space.
“The success of this test confirms that IBCS is advancing along the right path in becoming the foundation of our nation’s modernized Air & Missile Defense capabilities. I want to thank all our outstanding Soldiers who proved, once again, to be remarkably effective in their mission of standing prepared to defend our Nation.”
IBCS serves as an integrated command-and-control system by blending different air and missile defense sensors and weapon systems under a unified network. The Army began the Initial Operational Test & Evaluation for the system earlier this year, intercepting ballistic and cruise missiles while under a simulated electronic attack.
IBCS is designed to enable battle survivable “any-sensor, best-effector” operations by fusing information from multiple, disparate sensors to create a single integrated air picture, and employing all available effectors to defeat advancing threats.
According to the service, preliminary indications are that the latest flight test objectives against the cruise missile threat were achieved, and the target was successfully intercepted.
“This successful test confirms that IBCS is well positioned to combat the present and future threats to our Nation and allies,” said Army Col. Chris Hill, Project Manager of the IFMC Project Office, Huntsville, AL.
“I want to thank the outstanding Soldiers from 3-43 ADA BN and the Integrated Fires Mission Command Office who, once again, showed their remarkable professionalism and resilience in demonstrating this capability in support of our Nation’s defense. We will continue to be responsive to Warfighter requirements and work as an integrated team committed to modernizing our Army.”
