27 Feb 03. Northrop Grumman Mission Systems (previously TRW) has won a contract to supply the forces in the Gulf with a number of FBCB2 BFT (Blue Force Tracking) systems. The British Army forces in the Gulf will receive a number of these systems for installation into Scimitar and other vehicles using Toughbooks or Kontron laptops for computer power.
FBCB2 BFT utilises satcom not EPLRS for connectivity. The heart of the satcom system is the Comtech MT-2011 transceiver for sending and receiving messages and position reports. MT-2011 is a compact, all solid state device with no moving parts. Comtech also supplies access and support for the satellite system.
Interfacing the Comtech communications technology into FBCB2 has resulted in a non-line-of-sight/beyond line-of-sight capability to share the Blue Force Tracking picture among ground vehicles and aviation units. Transceivers are being installed on Bradley, Apache, Black Hawk, Chinook, HMMV and Scimitar vehicles.
Northrop also showed BATTLESPACE its hand-held FBCB2 module which is connected via the same satcom system and is in development for dismounted soldiers.