BAE Systems has entered into a teaming agreement with Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace to bring the Integrated Combat Solution (ICS) to the US defence market, the company announced on 16 October 2024.
ICS is a battlefield situational awareness tool for combat vehicles that provides their crews with the capability to link and share video streams, metadata, target information, slew-to-cue commands and more, which according to BAE Systems reduces the typical threat response speed from minutes to seconds. Together, with Kongsberg developing the ICS tool and BAE Systems integrating it onto combat vehicles, the companies will support vehicle technology upgrades through their product lifecycles.
ICS is a tool that can be used across the US Marine Corps’ or US Army’s fleet of vehicles as “a critical enabler of their mission” BAE Systems stated. Built with an open-systems approach, ICS can be integrated on any battlefield platform equipped with a weapon system and onboard sensors. The system uses an integrated network to link the sensors on different battlefield assets together, allowing command and control of weapon stations, turrets, jammers and other effectors from a single screen inside the vehicle.
The ICS capability has already been demonstrated on the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) and Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) platforms.
“The ability for troops to rapidly pass targeting information across the battlefield to other platforms and engage a target remotely is critical to their mission,” Andy Corea, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems’ Combat Mission Systems business, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “The combined talents of Kongsberg’s innovation and expertise in remote weapon systems and our lead systems integration capability provides the warfighter the opportunity to obtain fully integrated enhanced combat capability – helping them stay aware and unmatched in battle.”
“Together we will deliver ICS as a core enabler of modern warfare, providing all-domain visibility, command and control,” added Kjetil Reiten Myhra, executive vice president for defence systems at Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace. “This force multiplier streamlines complicated threat responses, networking mobility platforms and other assets for increased combat capability.”
