Northrop Grumman wins contract to build two missile defense command and control systems for Poland
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. –Command and control experts at Northrop Grumman Corp. are preparing to build two battle management systems for the government of Poland to help military authorities quickly deal with uncertain information concerning potential air and missile attacks.
Officials of the U.S. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., announced a $349.4 million contract Wednesday to the Northrop Grumman Mission Systems segment in Huntsville, Ala., to build two complete battery sets of Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) production hardware and software for Poland.
This contract is for the first phase of Poland's Wisla air and missile defense program, Northrop Grumman officials say. The IAMD IBCS will be the command-and-control segment of Poland's Patriot air-defense missile forces.
The IBCS is to be a revolutionary air command-and-control (C2) system to help air and missile defenders make quick decisions and adapt quickly to changing battlefield conditions. Northrop Grumman issued a public release this morning that says the contract will be worth $713 million.
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The IBCS will help enhance aircraft and missile tracking and situational awareness to enable military commanders and air defenders in Poland to make critical decisions within seconds in response to air and missile attacks, Northrop Grumman officials say.
Northrop Grumman won $67 million order in late 2017 for long-lead-time materials on IBCS for the U.S. Army. Long-lead items either are difficult and time-consuming to obtain, and are funded early in the aircraft design process to keep overall production on schedule. Contracts to build and deploy the IBCS for the Army were to come later.
Under this week's foreign military sales contract for Wisla, Northrop Grumman will manufacture IBCS engagement operations centers and integrated fire-control network relays, and deliver IBCS network-enabled command and control for four firing units.
The IBCS engagement operations centers will be integrated with IBCS battle management software that makes the most of the combat potential of sensors and weapon systems, Northrop Grumman officials say.
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The IBCS represents a modular open-systems architecture to optimize limited resources and facilitate flexible defense designs, company officials say.
The IBCS enables commanders to tailor organizations, sensors, and weapons to meet the demands of diverse missions, environments, and rules of engagement not achievable today, Northrop Grumman officials say. It provides wide-area surveillance and broad protection areas by networking sensors and interceptors.
The system enables affordable integration of current and future sensors, weapons, and modernization efforts, and helps connect systems for joint and cooperative multinational missile defense.
In March 2018, Poland signed a letter of offer and acceptance with the U.S. government to purchase IBCS, which will transform Poland's integrated air and missile defense capabilities to be consistent with the U.S. Army.
The IBCS in the U.S. is to replace seven legacy command-and-control systems with network-centric battle management to reduce single points of failure and increase the flexibility for deploying small force packages. The system creates a standard approach across forces to reduce logistics burdens and change training.
On this order Northrop Grumman will do the work in Huntsville, Ala., and should be finished by June 2026. For more information contact Northrop Grumman Mission Systems online at www.northropgrumman.com, or the Army Contracting Command-Redstone at http://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-rsa.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
