Northrop Grumman, MBDA and Saab demonstrate the integration of disparate missile and radar systems into integrated air and missile defense battle manager

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Northrop Grumman Corporation, MBDA, and Saab have successfully completed a joint, collaborative effort to demonstrate the ability to integrate 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-U.S. missile system to be demonstrated with IBCS earlier this year, and Giraffe represents the first non-U.S. 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.

MBDA’s CAMM family is the next generation of air defense missiles for multi-domain applications. Designed to defeat the most challenging of modern and future threats, including saturation attacks by precision-guided munitions and maneuvering high-speed missiles attacking simultaneously from multiple directions, 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.

Saab’s Giraffe AMB radar delivers key capabilities as part of short- and medium-range surveillance and Ground Based Air Defence. It integrates powerful 3D surveillance radar and C3 functionality in one and the same system and provides forces with swift understanding of the air situation, enabling immediate and effective response to changing threats, new tactics and shifting operational conditions.

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. IBCS delivers a single integrated air picture with unprecedented accuracy 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 U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.