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02 Nov 11. Northrop Grumman Corporation has successfully completed formal qualification testing of the Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A) Mobile Basic software baseline being developed for the U.S. Army. DCGS-A Mobile Basic, also referred to as DCGS-A V4, is the next-generation system for gathering intelligence data and distributing it to soldiers throughout the battlefield. Developed in conjunction with the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEWS), DCGS-A Mobile Basic consolidates multiple programs of record into a single intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) ground analysis and exploitation system.
“This testing marks the successful culmination of the development phase of the DCGS-A Mobile Basic program,” said Edward J. Bush, vice president of the C4ISR Networked Systems business unit of Northrop Grumman’s ISR Systems Division.
“By providing the Army with a new stable, fully reliable, consolidated DCGS-A software baseline, Northrop Grumman continues its legacy as a premier integrator of ground-based systems,” Bush added.
The formal testing, conducted by contractor and government personnel, validated 1,300 test requirements, over 600 interface exchange requirements, and various other specifications, which markedly exceeded government expectations. As a result of the test effort, DCGS-A Mobile Basic has since been certified as meeting and exceeding the government’s rigorous ACAT IAM software testing standards.

02 Nov 11. The two different aircraft platforms that fly the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) system, developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation, have been officially designated by the U.S. Air Force as the E-11A and the EQ-4B. The Bombardier Global Express BD-700 received the new E-11A designation, reflecting BACN’s special electronic mission role. The Northrop Grumman Global Hawk RQ-4Bs modified to host the BACN system have been re-designated as EQ-4Bs. On Sept. 21, the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $43m, five-month contract extension to operate, support and maintain two E-11A aircraft and to operate and maintain the BACN payload. BACN is a high-altitude, airborne communications gateway system that maintains operational communications support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The persistent connectivity BACN provides improves situational awareness and enables better coordination between forward-edge warfighters and commanders.

21 Oct 11. USN ramps up new C2 system. The US Navy (USN) is expanding the use of a prototype command-and-control programme designed to consolidate logistics and maintenance information, as well as data analysis on fleet readiness, into a single system. Today the US fleet uses the Global Command-and-Control System – Maritime (GCCS-M), which is platform specific, Gary Toth, Office of Naval Research (ONR) Program Manager for the Command-and-Control Rapid Prototype Continuum (C2RPC), told Jane’s. (Source: Jane’s, IDR)

03 Nov 11. Link Microtek has introduced a new portable instrument from Narda Test Solutions that will enable armed forces to pinpoint the source of any suspicious radio signals. As well as helping to combat the threat of IEDs, the new IDA-3106 interference and direction analyser (IDA) can identify and locate undesirable signals from jamming devices, mobile phones, satellite phones and 2-way radios. Using its integral GPS receiver and the 3D electronic compass built into the antenna handle, the IDA carries out a horizontal scan to establish the position of the interference source and then either displays the relative bearing in a polar diagram or pinpoints the location on a street map, just like a satnav system. The IDA is available with a choice of three active directional antennas covering the frequency ranges 20 to 250MHz, 200 to 500MHz