The US Army has awarded Northrop Grumman a US$713m (A$1bn) contract on behalf of the Government of Poland for the production of the company’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) for Poland’s WISŁA air and missile defense program.
Under the foreign military sales (FMS) contract, Northrop Grumman will manufacture IBCS engagement operations centres and integrated fire control network relays, and will deliver IBCS net-enabled command and control for four firing units. The IBCS engagement operations centres will be integrated with IBCS battle management software that maximises the combat potential of sensors and weapon systems. IBCS engagement operations centres and network relays will be transported by Polish Jelcz vehicles.
“Poland is taking a leadership role in today’s complex threat environment by selecting IBCS over legacy stove-piped systems that were designed decades ago for a much different threat profile,” Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager missile defense and protective systems, Dan Verwiel said in a statement.
“IBCS is the future of multidomain operations and with it, Poland will have a state-of-the-art system to modernize its integrated air and missile defense capabilities. Through the acquisition of IBCS, Poland will be in line with the U.S. Army’s future direction. Poland will have the flexibility to consider any radar and any interceptor, optimize sensor and effector integration and keep pace with an evolving threat.”
Poland signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance with the U.S. government to purchase IBCS in March 2018, becoming the first international partner country to acquire the system.
Northrop Grumman’s IBCS is expected to form the basis of the company’s for the ADF’s AIR 6500 Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) capability requirement.