Northrop Grumman Corporation and MBDA have successfully completed a joint, company-funded effort to incorporate the Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) family into the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS). CAMM is the first non-U.S. missile system to be integrated with IBCS.
“This is another demonstration of the ‘any-sensor, any-shooter’ IBCS design that integrates weapons in a short time and at a small fraction of traditional costs,” said Bill Lamb, director, international battle management, Northrop Grumman. “With IBCS as the enabler for next-generation IAMD in the multidomain battlespace, warfighters gain the advantage of leveraging any available sensors and effectors to counter evolving and emerging threats.”
With approval of the U.S. Department of Defense and U.K. Ministry of Defence, Northrop Grumman and MBDA invested internal company funds to demonstrate the integration of the Northrop Grumman-developed IBCS with the MBDA CAMM family of missiles in an affordable and rapid manner. The companies completed functional integration of the end-to-end firing chain for integrated fire control and fire direction configurations between CAMM and IBCS. The effort accomplished all research and development goals of integrating CAMM into the IBCS and reduces risk and costs for full integration.
“This integration further demonstrates how the CAMM family and its associated systems have been designed from the outset for integration into IAMD networks, including with third-party battle management command and control and sensors, allowing the most complex engagement scenarios to be achieved with lower demands on the network and a lower integration burden,” said Michael Mew, ground based air defence programme head, MBDA.
The CAMM family is the next generation of air defense missiles for multidomain 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.
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 truly 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.
With more than 90 armed forces customers worldwide, MBDA is a world leader in missiles and missile systems. In total, the group offers a range of 45 missile systems and countermeasures products already in operational service and more than 15 others currently in development. MBDA is jointly owned by Airbus (37.5%), BAE Systems (37.5%), and Leonardo (25%).
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.
