Last March, the UK had launched a Request for Information (RfI) about Command and Control (C2) solutions suitable for use within the Land Ground Based Air Defence programme for the modernisation and expansion of British Army air defences. The Land GBAD is a multi-project programme delivered across 3 'Capability Uplift Periods'.

We are currently well within the first period, which has already seen the delivery of a number of new capabilities including Saab GIRAFFE 1X radars for improved counter-drone capability within SHORAD batteries and the introduction of soldier-borne C-UAS sensors and kinetic and non-kinetic soldier-borne C-UAS effectors (SMASH computer sighs for assault rifles; electronic / jammer 'guns'). A new C2 system ensuring maximum interconnection of the various systems and batteries is planned to be a key part of CUP2 and 3 which are meant to field capability between 2026 and 2030 and beyond.

The MOD has now communicated, with an ex-ante voluntary transparency notice, its intention to award Northrop Grumman 2 small 6-months contracts, active from 1st October 2024, to assess the feasibility of adopting the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) and Forward Area Air Defence (FAAD) C2 systems to meet British short and medium-range air defence (SHORAD/MRAD) C2 needs.

The IBCS system is a resilient system with an open, modular, scalable architecture, developed to enable the creation of a truly integrated network collecting data and tracking solutions from all available assets in the battlespace, regardless of source, service or domain. Crucial to the modernisation of US Army ground based air defence, IBCS has already demonstrated integration with other assets such as F-35s, US Navy and USMC forward-deployed sensors (such as the G/ATOR radar) and weapons (SM-6, most notably).

IBCS has also been adopted by Poland for its WISLA and NAREW programmes, and this will be of particular interest to the UK as these systems use the same MBDA CAMM (and soon CAMM-ER) that British Army SKY SABRE batteries also employ.

In the meanwhile, the Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) agency has teamed with Roxel UK on increasing domestic production capabilities for composite propellant rocket motors. A live test has been successfully completed in Kidderminster with what is described as the “largest composite rocket motor built and tested by the company in 25 years”.

This type of motor is used by missiles such as MBDA’s Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) and Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM). The new production line will support increased production capacity for the weapons, within the framework of the Ammunition Strategy. While CAMM itself has not yet been provided to Ukraine, the UK has provided Kiev with ASRAAM missiles modified for launch from ground vehicle. Ground-launched ASRAAMs have been repeatedly used to defend Ukraine’s cities and key installations.

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