The U.S. Army’s fiscal year 2018 budget proposal indicates a possible four-year delay in the initial operational capability of the service branch’s anti-missile command-and-control platform, Defense News reported Thursday.The service now expects to achieve IOC for the Northrop Grumman-built Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System by the third quarter of FY 2022 compared with the FY 2017 budget request in which the Army anticipated to meet IOC by the third quarter of FY 2018.
The service branch’s FY 2018 proposal also showed an increase of more than $500 million in research, development, test and evaluation funds compared with the budget request for fiscal 2017.
Dan O’Boyle, a spokesman for the Army, told Defense News in a statement issued Thursday the additional funds and revised schedule seek to facilitate integration with the Patriot software’s latest version and buy time for development, analysis and testing phases to demonstrate software functionalities.
IBCS is a component of the service’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense System designed to replace the Patriot platform and is built to be interoperable with combat platforms such as the Indirect Fire Protection Capability system that works against artillery and rockets, the report added.
