US Army to conduct capabilities demonstrations of IBCS in 2013

The US Army is planning to demonstrate some of the early capabilities associated with the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) in 2013 and using the results of those tests for risk reduction in advance of flight-tests that will occur at the end of Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14).

The early capabilities include taking both a networked and non-networked AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar and tying them into the current version of the Patriot missile system, Mike Achord, US Army deputy programme manager for IBCS told IHS Jane's . "We would not be demonstrating the fire-control loop but would be showing how we could take that information from their radar and put it together with the Sentinel data and just demonstrating some of the early capabilities and using that as a risk reduction in the walk-up to flight-testing."

Currently, the IBCS programme team is doing all the planning leading up and detailed work as far as range preparation for both the 2013 demonstration and the beginning of the developmental test portion of the programme, he added.