Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) has demonstrated airborne information management capabilities supporting tactical operations under an Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) contract. The company demonstrated its Advanced Information Management System (AIMS) last fall during the Bold Quest exercise headquarters at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Two Air National Guard F-16 fighter jets fitted with AIMS-equipped LITENING pods were able to share information with the exercise headquarters.
The goal of the AFRL project is to integrate and demonstrate an advanced airborne capability merging AFRL’s Joint Battlespace Infosphere’s information brokering capabilities into Northrop Grumman’s high speed recording and tactical dissemination capabilities and transition it to U.S. Department of Defense programs. The result is AIMS, providing the tactical warfighter with critical information on demand, through tactical radio communications or existing enterprise networks.
“Key to the effective coordination between air and coalition ground entities is the real-time management of information in a rapidly changing battlespace, ” said Richard Wassmuth, Northrop Grumman AIMS program manager. “Immediate access to relevant information in a usable and understandable form reduces the fog of war and allows collaboration between shooters and ground forces to achieve their objectives while minimizing fratricide.”
