Ground Based Missile Defense (GBMD)
Lead System Integrator (LSI)
Battle Management, Command, Control and Communication (BMC3)
From a remote command center in Colorado, the U.S. military
monitors the globe for hostile missile launches against the
United States. If a threat is detected, commanders have only
minutes to respond. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense Segment
(GMDS) is designed to protect the United States against a
long-range ballistic missile attack, providing the information
necessary to commanders so they can quickly and accurately
assess the situation and execute a plan of defense.
Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is developing the Battle
Management Command, Control and Communications (BMC3) element
for the GMDS program, under contract to The Boeing Company.
Mission Systems' BMC3 products for the GMDS include the Battle
Management Command and Control (BMC2) system, the In-Flight
Interceptor Communications System (IFICS), the Communications
Node Equipment, the Network/System Manager, and the BMC3 Test
Exerciser (TEx).
Better known as the "brains" of the GMDS, the BMC3
element provides a wealth of information to decision makers
- including battle management displays and situational awareness
data - so that commanders can effectively plan, select and
adjust all the elements to help negate an incoming threat.
More than one million lines of code have been developed by
Mission Systems for GMDS BMC3 products.
The current BMC3 contract is primarily intended to develop
an effective GMDS command and control structure, facilitate
GMDS program integration, and develop the IFICS System. The
Mission Systems-designed In-Flight Interceptor Communications
System is the BMC3 communications link to the GMDS interceptors
as they fly out to the target, transmitting critical updates
to aid in acquisition and identification and to assist in
the intercept.
The Mission Systems-developed Test Exerciser (TEx) is a real-time
modeling and simulation tool kit developed specifically for
missile defense and is being used for GMDS purposes. TEx software
provides the environment for developing, testing, and integrating
system concepts, as well as analysis of performance and effectiveness.
Mission Systems' TEx has been selected as the M&S tool
to support the GMDS System Trainer - providing best-in-class
training for America's GMDS warfighter.
Mission Systems' BMC3 components successfully steered the
GMDS to another successful intercept on Oct. 14, 2002 as part
of the Integrated Flight Test 9 (IFT9). The mission was orchestrated
by Mission Systems' BMC3 software and hardware, which fed
the key situational awareness information and decision support
data to Mission Systems-developed command centers at the Joint
National Integration Center (JNIC) in Colorado and the Reagan
Test site in the Pacific Atolls; as well as to the interceptor
that helped the kill vehicle destroy its target.
Mission Systems BMC3 products for the GMDS program represent
more than 10 years of design effort under contracts with the
U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command and the Ballistic
Missile Defense Agency (BMDO) - renamed the Missile Defense
Agency.
For more information visit the Northrop Grumman Missile
Defense web site:
www.northropgrumman.com/missiledefense/index.html |
