Northrop Grumman’s IBCS Uses New Weapons Data Link to Engage Patriot Missile During Flight Test, Removing Existing Dependencies

During two separate tests at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), New Mexico, Northrop Grumman Corporation’s (NYSE: NOC) Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) proved again the system’s modular, open architecture integrates with any networked sensor and effector from past, present or future.

The first live target engagement involved a Sentinel radar tracking a cruise missile target across the desert. IBCS then engaged the target using Lockheed Martin’s Remote Interceptor Guidance (RIG-360) prototype as the uplink to the Patriot Interceptor. This was accomplished through Northrop Grumman’s investment in internal research and development to perform the engineering necessary to integrate RIG-360 with IBCS.

The success of this test removes the dependency of the Patriot radar in IBCS’ architecture to provide the communication link to and from the interceptor and further proved IBCS’ ability to rapidly integrate with emerging technology.

“IBCS’ ability to integrate with any available networked sensor and effector provides the warfighter flexibility, time and dominance in the battlespace,” said Christine Harbison, vice president and general manager, combat systems and mission readiness, Northrop Grumman. “With every unique system test, the IBCS architecture has proven that the system is defining the possibilities of providing command and control across domains.”

During the second live target test, a ground launched cruise missile surrogate was effectively detected, tracked, engaged and destroyed using IBCS. Using a Patriot Interceptor, IBCS created a fire quality track and common operating picture to eliminate the threat.

IBCS implements a modular, open and scalable architecture that is foundational to integrating available assets in the battlespace, regardless of source, service or domain. Its architecture enables the efficient and affordable integration of current and future systems and extends the battlespace by disaggregating sensors and effectors. Through numerous successful tests and demonstrations, IBCS has validated the ability to connect and fuse multi-service sensor data to multi-service weapons, demonstrating JADC2 capabilities.

Northrop Grumman is a technology company, focused on global security and human discovery. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with capabilities they need to connect, advance and protect the U.S. and its allies. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 90,000 employees define possible every day.