The Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) may be one of the greatest communications networking challenges in the history of armed forces, as it attempts to merge data from ground-based, airborne, and space-based sensors within a communications system that offers information with almost zero latency. It will involve many different technologies and companies working together over many years to develop and, recently, Raytheon Intelligence & Space became one of the companies involved in the development of the ABMS. Raytheon Intelligence & Space, one of four businesses comprising Raytheon Technologies received a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract worth as much as $950 million over the next five years from the U.S. Air Force for its part in the research and development of the ABMS (see the figure)
The ABMS will eventually serve as the cross-branch military command and control communications and surveillance network for the U.S. Armed Forces. It represents a replacement for the aging Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) technology developed by Northrop Grumman, based on the use of RQ-4 Global Hawks. These remotely piloted, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used a combination of radar, infrared (IR), and electro-optical sensors to provide high-altitude views of the battlespace.
Raytheon Intelligence & Space will be part of a team that helps develop the ABMS based on a Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) technology approach that allows near-instant communications among all members of all branches of the military forces. “ABMS will transform the future battlespace for the U.S. Air Force by delivering the right data at the right time to the right people so they can make the right decisions fast,” said Barbara Borgonovi, vice-president of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, at Raytheon Intelligence & Space. “This is the first step to delivering the Air Force's vision of JADC2, which will link capabilities across all domains – air, land, sea, cyber, and space.”
As part of the ABMS and JADC2 research and development efforts, Raytheon Intelligence and Space will be supported by Raytheon Missiles & Defense, with the opportunity to submit open systems designs, software, and unique algorithm creation. At the same time, under the terms of the multiple award contract, the U.S. Air Force will run competitions issued as task and delivery orders to develop different parts of the system in a modular fashion.