Breaking Defense:
America’s military has operated far too long without a truly integrated air and missile defense system and the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) is the best answer we’ve got. Congress needs to support the Army’s budget request for IBCS and AMD funding. For its part, the Army needs to re-evaluate its management approach.
IBCS will take us from stove-piped, stand-alone weapon systems to the integrated air and missile defense we require. IBCS’ open architecture and “any sensor-best shooter” construct is the objective our commanders must have to deal with the threats of today and tomorrow.
As Adm. Harry Harris, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, recently told Breaking Defense, “I want them to be able to deliver a missile on target, and I want them to be able to do it interchangeably. In other words, I want the Navy to be able to do the sensing and the Army to do the shooting, or the Army to do the sensing and the Navy to do the shooting.”
IBCS is only seven years into development and it has accomplished much. The Army needs to re-evaluate its management approach and ensure it is disciplined and establishes a block concept to manage emerging requirements. It needs to lock-in configurations prior to test and provide well-trained and experienced crews to execute the test and analyzes test results to determine root causes for shortcomings and to ensure they are scored and binned accurately. Finally, the Army needs to ensure its requirements are operationally based, realistic, and technologically feasible…
