INTEGRATED COMMAND & CONTROL

Boeing Integration Center (BIC)

These are actual buildings located in Anaheim, California (BIC West), which was opened in November 2000, and another one (BIC East), located in Crystal City, Virginia, which was opened in April 2004.

What goes on in them?

Each BIC houses a state-of-the-art visualization theater supported by "multiple integration labs." The buildings serve as "windows into a powerful, adaptable network, one that is able to rapidly model concepts and solutions using real systems and software, analyze integration schemes, evaluate new technologies and products, and demonstrate the increased effectiveness of network-centric operations." In plain English, it can safely be said that these are THE buildings where Boeing IDS technology is consolidated.



E-4B Advanced Airborne Command Post

According to the Boeing website, this command post is "designed to be used by the National Command Authority as a survivable command post for control of US forces in all levels of conflict, including nuclear war."

Secondary missions include "VIP travel support" and "Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) support," which "provides communications to relief efforts following natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes."



E-6 Tacamo

The TACAMO (Take Charge And Move Out) airplanes are in charge of supporting the US Navy's ballistic missile submarine force. They provide "airborne command, control, and communications between the National Command Authority (NCA) and US strategic and non-strategic forces."

The airplanes consist of the E-6A ("a modified Boeing 707-320B with CFM-56 engines") and the E-6B ("a modified E-6A equipped with an airborne launch control system capable of launching US land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles").



Future Combat Systems (FCS)

The Boeing website tells us, the FCS is "a joint (across all military services) networked (connected via advanced communications) system of systems (one large system made up of 14 individual systems plus the network, plus the soldier)."

Furthermore, FCS "uses advanced communications and technologies to link soldiers with both manned and unmanned ground and air platforms (a platform can be anything from a tank on the ground to an unmanned aerial vehicle) and sensors (a sensor is a device that collects data). Soldiers who are linked to these platforms and sensors have access to data that can provide a much more accurate picture of what's going on around them."

According to Boeing, FCS is the fastest and surest way to modernize the US Army.

Boeing's full description of the reasons for the US Army to desire this system:

"Today, the U.S. Army has the world’s best 'light' forces. These are forces that can get to a conflict quickly, usually through fast airlift. The light forces are generally made up of infantry soldiers who often use 'boots on the ground' to move from place to place, meaning they do not have mobility equal to a force with ground vehicles, which can transport troops quickly over long distances. Light forces also lack the firepower and protection provided by the 'heavy' forces with their Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

“Operation Iraqi Freedom showed the overwhelming strength of 'heavy' forces. However, the time it takes to get these vehicles to the fight is often long in duration. They must be shipped by land and sea because they are too big for easy airlift. What the Army seeks is a combination of both heavy and light forces – combining the strength, lethality and survivability of the heavy forces and their on-the-ground mobility with the speed and agility of the light forces – a capability that FCS will provide.

“Key to FCS’ power is the fact that it is a networked system of systems – all designed to maximize the strength of each individual system by linking it to all other systems in the network – including systems that are part of the FCS family and those considered “complementary systems” that work with FCS. These complementary systems, which are outside the purview of the FCS program, include weapons like the Apache attack helicopter and communications systems such as the Joint Tactical Radio System. The network that binds these systems together is designed to be Joint (multi-service-friendly), Interagency (connects the military with other government agencies and Multi-national (FCS can talk to/work with the systems of our allies).

“…By 2015, the Army plans to begin equipping the first FCS BCT with all 14 FCS systems plus the network, and additional BCTs with embedded FCS capability."

How much does it cost?

"The contract for the System Development and Demonstration phase of the program is valued below $21 billion for the complete period of performance spanning 2003 through 2014." But this is simply the development and demonstration cost, the total cost of FCS will be enormous.



Joint Effects-Based Command and Control (JEBC2)

The JEBC2 is a software system that will allow the US military's joint forces to "gain and sustain an advantage across air, land, sea, space, and information... It provides real-time understandable information in order to make correct decisions the first time."

The program "allows every activity, platform, operations center, even the activity within the operations center, to act as a node on the network. This operationally unifying framework allows commanders to take preemptive defensive and offensive actions to resolve conflicts." Yes, “preemptive…actions to resolve conflicts.” Sounds like the phrase from the book 1984, “War is Peace.”



Network-Centric Operations (NCO)

The NCO is "a form of collaboration in which the entities in an activity are linked or networked by a communications and information systems infrastructure that lets them share relevant data across geographic borders." Once again in plain English, the Internet for the military, replete with portable hand-held laptops.



Secure Border Initiative (SBI) and SBInet

This is the famous “Virtual Fence” that was tentatively approved by the Dept of homeland security in late 2007 only to be tabled for a period of at least three years in the spring of 2008. We’ll keep our eyes out for it.