CAMM First Non-US Missile to be Integrated with IBCS

Northrop Grumman and MBDA announced on 11 March they have successfully demonstrated the integration of the latter’s Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) into the Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS). CAMM is the first non-US missile system to achieve this.

“This is another demonstration of the ‘any-sensor, any-shooter’ IBCS design that integrates weapons in a short time and at a small fraction of traditional costs,” commented Northrop Grumman’s Director, International Battle Management, Bill Lamb. “With IBCS as the enabler for next-generation IAMD in the multidomain battlespace, warfighters gain the advantage of leveraging any available sensors and effectors to counter evolving and emerging threats.”

With the approval of the US Department of Defense and British Ministry of Defence, the companies have invested internal funds to demonstrate the integration IBCS and CAMM in an affordable and rapid manner. The companies completed functional integration of the end-to-end firing chain for integrated fire control and fire direction configurations between CAMM and IBCS, accomplishing all research and development goals and reducing risk and costs for full integration.

“This integration further demonstrates how the CAMM family and its associated systems have been designed from the outset for integration into IAMD networks, including with third-party battle management command and control and sensors, allowing the most complex engagement scenarios to be achieved with lower demands on the network and a lower integration burden,” explained MBDA Ground-based Air Defence Programme Head, Michael Mew.

The CAMM family constitutes the next generation of air defence missiles for multidomain applications. Designed to defeat the most challenging of modern and future threats, including saturation attacks by precision-guided munitions and manoeuvring high-speed missiles attacking simultaneously from multiple directions, CAMM missiles feature a solid-state active radar seeker, two-way data-link, low-signature rocket motor and a 360° soft-vertical launch system.

IBCS, managed by the US Army Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space in Alabama, creates a paradigm shift for IAMD by replacing legacy stove-piped systems with a next-generation, net-centric approach to better address the evolving complex threat. The system integrates disparate radars and weapons to construct a far more effective IAMD enterprise. IBCS delivers a single integrated air picture with unprecedented accuracy and broadens surveillance and protection areas. With its truly open systems architecture, it allows incorporation of current and future sensors and effectors and interoperability with joint C2 and the ballistic missile defence system.