Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) is a

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which in ...

-based communication platform designed for commanders to track friendly and hostile forces on the battlefield. It increases a vehicle commander's

situational awareness Situational awareness or situation awareness (SA) is the perception of environmental elements and events with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their future status. An alternative definition is tha ...

of the battlefield by gathering information near real-time based on vehicle locations being updated on the battlefield. This information is viewed graphically, and exchanged via both free and fixed text message formats (instead of verbal collection of reports). The location data for friendly forces is collected through the Enhanced Position Location Reporting System (EPLRS) line of sight tactical radio network and Blue Force Tracking (BFT) satellite network.

Development

The development of the system is managed by Project Manager, Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below, a component of the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office – Command Control and Communications Tactical (PEO C3T). PEO C3T is based at

Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work a ...

Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States Census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimo ...

. The original Army Program Executive Officer was William Campbell (LtG, ret). The original contractor program manager was Neil Siegel. FBCB2 was tested under the First Digitized Division

4th Infantry Division (United States) The 4th Infantry Division is a division of the United States Army based at Fort Carson, Colorado. It is composed of a division headquarters battalion, three brigade combat teams (two Stryker and one armor), a combat aviation brigade, a divis ...

based in

Fort Hood, Texas Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarter ...

, and 1/25 infantry out of Fort Lewis, Washington. series of what were called "Advanced Warfighting Experiments" at the

National Training Center Fort Irwin National Training Center (Fort Irwin NTC) is a major training area for the United States military in the Mojave Desert in northern San Bernardino County, California. Fort Irwin is at an average elevation of . It is located northeast o ...

near Barstow, California, starting in 1997. The division conducted Limited User Test on the equipment in 1998, and the system was approved for production. FBCB2 was then tested and implemented under the Force XXI concept that stemmed from

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

Shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

. The

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

and the

United States Marines Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

reached agreement to standardize on a new variant of the system to be called Joint Capabilities Release (JCR) developed by the Project Manager, Joint Battle Command-Platform (PM JBC-P) that was fielded in 2013. JCR takes advantage of the BFT-2 network, a new satellite infrastructure that can handle significantly more data than the first BFT.

Deployment

The

awarded TRW (that became a part of

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

in 2002) the prime contract for FBCB2 in 1995. ESP (Engineering Solutions and Products) is now the prime contractor for the system. FBCB2 was first used in actual military operations in the former Yugoslavia in 1998. It played a key role in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan starting in 2003. Work has begun on plans to reach the level of nearly 160,000 tracking systems in the Army within a few years.

Awards

The FBCB2 system, and the BFT system have won numerous awards and accolades, including: recognition in 2001 as one of the five best-managed software programs in the entire U.S. Government, the 2003 Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's award for most innovative U.S. Government program, the 2003 Federal Computer Week Monticello Award (given in recognition of an information system that has a direct, meaningful impact on human lives), and the Battlespace Information 2005 "Best Program in Support of Coalition Operations".

References

Notes

*
at,

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

at Austin, and

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Force Xxi Battle Command Brigade And Below Command and control Military electronics of the United States

Development

Deployment

Awards

See also

References

Notes