C4 Marine Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Nally - KMI Media Group

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 Brigade 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 Marine
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-Marine
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
Kevin 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 Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division finds his location
on a Force XXI Battle Command Brigade 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 Kevin 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 Marine Corps on the same
platform. Testing on the software was recently completed, and it
is being readied for fielding.”
The Marine 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 Marine Corps Systems
Command. “We are looking at JBC-P as our dismounted command
and control and situational awareness solution for the
quick mobile Marine.”
equal Partners
JRC and FBCB2 are both Army-led programs in which the
Marine 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 Marine Corps require essentially the same
functionality,” said Daniels, “and that functionality will appear in
a single software package in JCR and JCB-P. The Marine 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
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