Northrop ramps up IBCS production as global interest grows
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Northrop is exploring options to make IBCS more mobile and versatile, including with Infantry Squad Vehicles. Photo: Courtesy Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman's locally made Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) is aiming to prove itself in the field.
Why it matters: The company is preparing to ramp up production as international interest grows in the all-in-one command and control system.
Catch up quick: The IBCS was recently declared fully operational by Poland, successfully completing its first live-fire tests.
- "The big idea behind IBCS is that it can integrate sensors and effectors across multiple areas of the battle space, across multiple domains ... from the depth of the ocean all the way to the vastness of space," said Kenn Todorov, vice president and general manager of command and control and weapons integration, on a call with media Monday.
- "I think the record speaks for itself: 32 live-fire engagements, 32 successes in a very complex and stressing and demanding test environment," he said.
Zoom out: More than 20 nations have expressed formal interest in the system, and Northrop is preparing to ramp up production at its sprawling EPIC facility, where Todorov said the company has capacity to quadruple production.
- "When that demand signal materializes — and we think that it's materializing now — we'll be able to add the workforce necessary," he said.
- Northrop recently exited Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of IBCS at EPIC, and is turning its focus now on making them more mobile following feedback from combatant commands around the globe.
What they're saying: "The idea here is to evolve IBCS while it's being deployed," said Jon Ferko, senior director for mission solutions and strategy.
- The answer, he said, is an "a la carte kind of adaptive framework" for an air missile defense capability adaptive to different operational environments.
Zoom in: To that end, Northrop Grumman purchased three ISVs, or Infantry Squad Vehicles, from GM Defense, on which to mount IBCS to "have soldiers working in a very mobile environment and using various forms of communication networks."
- It's one of multiple frameworks the company is looking at for more mobility, alongside artificial intelligence and automation to enhance decision-makers' capacity at times when they may get overwhelmed, Ferko said.
The bottom line: "The idea is to create an adaptive framework to adapt to whatever the mobile or transport means are, whatever the conditions are," Ferko said.