BALTIMORE, Sept. 9, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and the U.S. Army have demonstrated the first mobile operational deployment of the Department of Defense's Distributed Common Ground System -- Army (DCGS-A), which will greatly advance open-system, multi-intelligence data sharing and interoperability among the United States' armed services.
Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector, under contract to the Army's DCGS-A program management office, Ft. Monmouth, N. J., served as lead systems integrator for DCGS-A Spirals 2 and 3. Spiral 2 achieved interoperability among five currently fielded ground-based intelligence systems operated by the XVIII Airborne Corps' 525th Military Intelligence Brigade at Fort Bragg, N.C. These include the Block II Analysis and Control Element (ACE), the Common Ground Station (CGS), the Counter- and Human-Intelligence Management System (CHIMS), the Guardrail Information Node (GRIFN), and the Tactical Exploitation System -- Army (TES-A).
"Spiral 2 of DCGS-A represents a major milestone in enabling the Army's ground intelligence systems to interoperate in a way that enhances the capabilities of today's warfighter," said Ken Wilson, vice president of C4ISR Network Systems at Northrop Grumman. "It will help provide immediate access to actionable intelligence at all echelons, which is critical to network-centric warfighting."
Lt. Col. Nancy Nykamp, commander, 319th Military Intelligence Battalion, 525th Military Intelligence Brigade, added, "Spiral 2 was tested as part of an Army initiative to bring online systems that are currently stove-piped into one common system. We're very optimistic about our ability to integrate it into our Operation Iraqi Freedom intelligence architecture."
After seven weeks of fielding and training, the DCGS-A architecture became operational on schedule and within budget. During the two-week exercise, all five systems received and exploited live mission data from Operation Iraqi Freedom through remote communications. They shared cross-domain data, rapidly creating multi-intelligence products that provided better-quality and more timely information to the warfighter.
Operators tested the five ground systems using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data gathered by U-2 surveillance aircraft; moving target indicator and SAR data from Joint STARS command-and-control aircraft; signals intelligence from Guardrail surveillance aircraft; and human intelligence from the CHIMS system, all received in near-real time from the Operation Iraqi Freedom battlespace. They demonstrated data sharing, collaboration and cross-cueing among the systems and established initial concepts for new tactics, techniques and procedures.
In this same demonstration, operators achieved collaboration and interoperability among different Army echelons at the corps and divisional levels and with a Navy DCGS-N system at the Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, Calif.
Northrop Grumman's Baltimore-based Electronic Systems sector is a world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of defense and commercial electronic systems and sensors, including airborne radar, navigation systems, electronic countermeasures, precision weapons, airspace management systems, communications systems, space sensors, marine and naval systems, government systems and logistics services.
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