6 | MIT 15.1 army, marInes joIntly develoP uPgraded system for Command and Control and sItuatIonal awareness. By Peter BuxBaum mIt CorresPondent BuxBaumP@kmImedIagrouP.Com www.MIT-kmi.com
A battle command system that has won widespread praise for its contributions to U.S. operations in Southwest Asia is in the process on undergoing major system redesigns. Known as Force XXI Battle Command <strong>Brig</strong>ade and Below (FBCB2), the system has helped minimize battlefield confusion and fratricide by providing tactical units with blue force tracking. FBCB2 identifies friendly forces via satellite communications, without the necessity of line-of-sight contact, in Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain. It also provides short-text messaging and replaces radio-based systems that have curtailed ranges in mountainous or other rough terrain. Warfighters say that FBCB2 has dramatically improved situational awareness. Commanders have more efficient and effective command and control of their units, and they are able to adapt more quickly than the enemy. FBCB2 also informs “engage/don’t engage” decisions. The redesigns FBCB2 is undergoing are taking place in two stages with two major purposes. An FBCB2 Joint Capabilities Release (JCR), which rewrites FBCB2 software and adds new capabilities, will be deployed this year, and will eventually evolve into the Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P). The word “joint” in both these titles is key, as the emerging system will allow the Army and <strong>Marine</strong> Corps to converge on the same battle command platform. JBC-P will also include hardware replacements and refreshes. Besides accomplishing the important goal of Army-<strong>Marine</strong> Corps interoperability in the command and control and situational awareness realms, JBC-P will also improve on the current system by capitalizing on new technologies. JBC-P will meet joint command and control and situational awareness requirements and will include new dismounted and dismountable hardware solutions. Both JCR and JBC-P support an <strong>Kevin</strong> Anastas open development architecture that enables new applications to be added quickly and easily. “The purpose of FBCB2 is to Alan Stocks know where I am and where my buddies are on the battlefield,” said Lieutenant Colonel Mark Daniels, program manager for A U.S. soldier assigned to 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Heavy <strong>Brig</strong>ade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division finds his location on a Force XXI Battle Command <strong>Brig</strong>ade and Below communication system in Mosul, Iraq, Aug. 15, 2010. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army by Staff Sgt. Edward Reagan] battle command at the Army Program Executive Office Command Control Communications Tactical. “What we are doing with JCR is to do it better by adding some additional functionality to the current product.” “The original FBCB2 software code has been rewritten into JCR,” said <strong>Kevin</strong> Anastas, manager of business development at the Defense Systems Division of Northrop Grumman Information Systems, the FBCB2 prime contractor. “The joint issue is key, as it will bring the Army and the <strong>Marine</strong> Corps on the same platform. Testing on the software was recently completed, and it is being readied for fielding.” The <strong>Marine</strong> Corps views JCR as an interim solution until JBC-P is ready to be deployed, according to Alan Stocks, product manager for situational awareness at <strong>Marine</strong> Corps Systems Command. “We are looking at JBC-P as our dismounted command and control and situational awareness solution for the quick mobile <strong>Marine</strong>.” equal Partners JRC and FBCB2 are both Army-led programs in which the <strong>Marine</strong> Corps participates as an equal partner. The two services work together on integrated product teams and negotiate requirements for the programs that suit both of them. “The Army and the <strong>Marine</strong> Corps require essentially the same functionality,” said Daniels, “and that functionality will appear in a single software package in JCR and JCB-P. The <strong>Marine</strong> Corps architecture is somewhat different so we need to interface with that as well as with Army systems.” The interface and interoperability between the two systems was accomplished with the development of a software tool kit by www.MIT-kmi.com MIT 15.1 | 7
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