CGS Provides Situational Awareness to Joint ServicesD uring a limited user test conducted by the All Service Combat Identification Evaluation Team (ASCIET) at Fort Stewart, GA, the Motorola Common Ground Station (CGS) successfully demonstrated its ability to provide situational awareness and combat identification and to reduce the risk of friendly fire. The CGS simultaneously receives, processes and displays sensor data from multiple airborne platforms, providing commanders an integrated view of the battlefield.

Marine Forces Command, Army Forces Command and the Joint Task Force deployed the CGS at ASCIET to evaluate the utility of the system and its ability to provide all of the joint services with a common operating picture of the battlefield. The Marine Amphibious Group Task Force (MAGTF) commander relied heavily on the CGS correlated operating picture as the basis for fire and maneuver decisions.

During the evaluation, CGS received information from Joint STARS, Hunter Unmanned Aviation Vehicle (UAV), Senior Scout, River Joint and the Motorola Joint Services Workstation (JSWS). Other operational links from manned and unmanned platforms provided Electro Optical/Infrared, telemetry, MTI and SAR products and signal intelligence.

The US Marine Corps plans to field two CGS systems this year. The US Army has ordered more than 70 systems out of an authorized 100 systems. The US Air Force will take delivery of its first CGS system this year and the US Navy has a development program with Motorola to provide similar capabilities to shipboard Command Information Centers.

Northrop Grumman and Dasa Sign Radar Agreement and Expand MoU

N orthrop Grumman Corp.'s Integrated Systems and Aerostructures (ISA) sector and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG, Dasa, Munich, announced that progress has been made and steps taken toward a previously announced business alliance. Dasa is acting on behalf of the European Defence and Space Company (EADS), which was formed by the merger of Dasa, Aerospatiale Matra and CASA. Noting the first success under their memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed earlier this year, the two companies announced their intention to collaborate on the AN/APN-241 weather and navigation radar for the European A400M military transport aircraft.

As a result of ongoing evaluation of potential business alliances, other areas offering opportunities for collaboration have been added to the MOU. Space equipment, interoperability technology, aerial targets, scenario analysis, towed devices, airborne electronic attack and fire control radar applications are all to be jointly evaluated by the future EADS and Northrop Grumman alliance.

First Phase of Integrated Broadcast Service Program Funded

L ockheed Martin will lead one team selected for the first phase of the Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS) program, a Joint Services program to manage the flow of intelligence data from satellites and sensors to warfighters. The team was awarded $2 M for a six-month program definition and risk reduction phase effort. IBS is a six-year Department of Defense program with a potential value of $60 M. An engineering and manufacturing development contract is scheduled for award in April 2001.

IBS service is intended to make large amounts of data from intelligence-gathering satellites and other sensors more manageable for users. The service will permit warfighters, theater commanders and commanders-in-chief to set preferences for the data and information they need such as enemy troop movements, fortifications, weaponry and terrain obstacles. IBS will be able to sort through the streaming data and funnel relevant information to users based on pre-set mission profiles. When fielded, IBS will provide continuous, worldwide service to warfighters and, eventually, will provide data in a Common Message Format.

Teamed with Lockheed Martin on the effort are General Dynamics, AT&T Defense Programs, Oracle, Veridian MRJ, Cambridge Research, Autometric and NCI Information Systems. Lockheed Martin organizations on the team include Space Systems Company-Astronautics Operations and Aeronautics Company-Fort Worth. The US Air Force Electronics System Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, is managing the acquisition of IBS.

UK Announces Two BVRAAM Program Awards

U nder its Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile (BVRAAM) program, the UK announced the award of a multimillion- pound order to Raytheon Co. for Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to equip the Eurofighter Aircraft when it enters service in 2004. It also announced a UK Ministry of Defence award to Matra-Bae Dynamics for Meteor missiles that will be developed and made available for deployment by the end of the decade.

The awards confirm the decision that there will be no US/UK cooperative effort on the program. Raytheon expressed its appreciation for the AMRAAM order as well as its disappointment that the cooperative effort was abandoned. Its statement noted its belief that the government-backed cooperative program would have provided the UK with the lowest cost, lowest risk proposal for a proven and upgradeable solution to the defense requirements of the UK and allied nations around the world.

US Army THAAD Award Valued at $4 B

T he US Army Space and Missile Defense Command awarded Lockheed Martin a contract valued at approximately $4 B to begin the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program. The award follows two successful demonstrations of THAAD interceptions of simulated theater ballistic missile targets, the first in June 1999 and the second in August 1999.

During the EMD phase of the program, the THAAD team will demonstrate the system's design and operational capabilities in a series of ground and flight tests. It will also validate system manufacturing processes in a low rate initial production period. During this phase, the missile and radar hardware and other system elements necessary to satisfy the key performance parameters of the Operational Requirements Document (ORD) will be completed. At the end of this phase in 2007, the program will provide a substantial warfighting capability to the US Army.

STANDARD Missile Contract Awarded for FY 2000

T he US Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Raytheon Co. a contract for STANDARD Missile-2 fiscal 2000 production valued at $118 M. Under the firm, fixed-price contract, Raytheon will deliver to the US Navy 75 Block IIIB missiles, 74 ordnance alteration kits to upgrade SM-2 Block II/III missiles to SM-2 Block IIIA configuration and 142 telemetric data transmitting sets. The contract also calls for 89 Block III and IIIA missiles for foreign military sales. Deliveries are scheduled to take place over the next two years, and the missiles will be installed on ships with vertical launching systems.

The STANDARD Missile-2's primary role is to provide area defense against enemy aircraft and anti-ship missiles. The SM-2 Block IIIB is the latest version to enter the fleet and incorporates a side-mounted infrared seeker to aid in endgame guidance. *