Networked Mission Command

By John Liang / October 29, 2012 at 12:00 PM

The Army's latest air and missile defense strategy defines the "networked mission command" concept as "a single, common air and missile defense command and control system operating via an open modular architecture integrated into Army mission command and Joint engagement architectures." The document further states:

This capability will reside at all AMD mission command nodes and will include common interfaces for sensors and weapons. It will provide AMD forces the ability to integrate air and missile defense engagement and force operations and present decision-makers at all levels with tools that help them manage the aerial fight.

Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno signed the strategy last month.

In related news, Inside the Army reports this morning that the document likely will do little to settle the debate on whether to favor the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system over the soon-to-be-abandoned Medium Extended Air Defense System:

On one hand, the document describes the U.S. decision to abandon MEADS as a "complicating" factor in adapting Army capabilities to emerging threats. At the same time, it states that the program's planned 360-degree engagement capability could be approximated with Patriot hardware and new software.

"[R]ather than creating a new MEADS program, IBCS [the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System] will allow Patriot to integrate a new radar with the existing omni-directional launchers on the network, creating a 360-degree capability that also leverages non-organic Army and joint data," the document reads.

According to the Army's AMD strategy, service officials envision "initial fielding" of AIAMD, the service's key program for achieving a networked force of sensors and interceptors, in 2016, through the deployment of IBCS. By 2020, officials expect integration of Patriot and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system through the integration of their command-and-control systems -- IBCS for Patriot and the Command, Control, Battle Management, and Communications for THAAD.

In 2028, "complete" fielding of IBCS would lead to a "fully integrated and networked family of AMD systems that additionally integrates other Army capabilities (aviation, intelligence, fires) and joint and coalition contributions," the strategy states.

Patriot, conceived in the 1970s and upgraded several times since it was first fielded, remains a fixture in the new Army strategy. The document calls for "pre-planned product improvements" to be fielded by 2016 and the provision of 15 Patriot battalions through at least 2020.

The document includes no cost projections for new development work necessary to implement the strategy. However, the complexity of the work proposed -- particularly in the historically risky area of large-scale software projects -- suggests the price tag could rise to the tens of billions of dollars.

View the rest of the ITA story.

View the full "Air And Missile Defense Strategy".

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