Integrated Battle Command System achieves major milestone with first successful European flight test

In a major milestone for the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS), developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation - Poland’s Ministry of National Defense conducted a successful operational exercise for its IBCS-enabled WISŁA medium-range air defense system. This achievement highlights the exceptional collaboration between Poland and the United States and Northrop Grumman's dedication to advancing allied defense modernization.

During the event conducted in Poland, IBCS successfully engaged and intercepted surrogate air-breathing targets.

This marks IBCS’s first international live-fire operational exercise and underscores the WISŁA system’s readiness.

• In 2018, Poland selected IBCS, the US Army’s program of record for air and missile defense modernization, to serve as the centerpiece for its WISŁA medium range air defense modernization program, making Poland the first US ally to acquire the system.

• Poland’s Ministry of National Defense declared Initial Operational Capability for two IBCS-enabled batteries of Poland’s WISŁA medium range air defense program in 2024.

•  With the deployment of IBCS, Poland will continue to field one of the largest, most capable air and missile defense forces in the world, able to integrate air and missile defense across U.S. and Polish forces during combined operations.

Kenn Todorov, vice president and general manager, command and control and weapons integration, Northrop Grumman: "This achievement not only highlights the exceptional performance and capabilities of IBCS but also demonstrates Poland’s steadfast commitment to homeland defense and the enhancement of European security. IBCS revolutionizes interoperability and integration between Poland, US, and allies across multiple domains, delivering advanced capabilities needed to counter complex threats. Central to this success is the robust partnership between Polish industry and Northrop Grumman."

Details on IBCS

IBCS is a revolutionary command and control system that delivers fire control quality and battle management, unifying current and future systems regardless of source, service or domain. Through its network enabled, modular, open and scalable architecture, IBCS fuses sensor data for a single, actionable picture of the full battlespace. This ready-now capability gives warfighters more time to assess and respond to threats, serving as a foundational element for enabling joint and coalition, multi-domain operations. IBCS is in production, currently fielded in Poland, and planned for fielding in Combatant Commands in Europe and the Indo-Pacific as part of the US Army program of record for integrated air and missile defense modernization.  

Northrop Grumman was awarded a five-year contract valued at more than $1 billion from the US Army for low-rate initial production and full-rate production of IBCS, the service’s program of record for air and missile defense command and control in December 2021.