Northrop Grumman weighs maritime role for IBCS

US Army personnel with the IBCS Engagement Operations Center. (Northrop Grumman)

Programme officials with Northrop Grummanʼs Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) are exploring potential bridging capabilities to bring the system into sea-based combat platforms.

Company officials are co-ordinating efforts with government and industry partners “to bridge IBCS to certain naval capabilities via an Aegis platform or other maritime [command-and-control] platforms”, Kenn Todorov, Northrop Grummanʼs vice-president and general manager of command-and-control (C2) and weapons integration, said.

“We have talked about [IBCS] as a multidomain capability in the future … from the maritime domain all the way into the vastness of space,” Todorov said regarding those ongoing IBCS integration efforts into the maritime domain. To that end, Northrop Grumman has “already demonstrated the ability” to implement bridging capabilities to interlink IBCS into the Aegis system, he added during a February briefing. He declined to provide details on the effort at the time.

The IBCS is an Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) C2 system that will integrate current and future IAMD systems via open-architecture applications, enabling users to employ a range of sensors and weapons during combat operations.

Aside from open-architecture applications, IBCS leverages common software and standard interfaces to expand potential sensor and shooter combinations via its integrated fire-control network.

Todorov made clear that the plan to integrate IBCS into maritime platforms is an effort to have the system replace current sea-based IAMD. He added, “Certainly, the ability to communicate across from land to maritime [environments], from land to air and to connect all domains is something we very much see in the future for IBCS.”