Navy Successfully Tests NIFC-CA With Army Airborne Sensor

Story Number: NNS120927-11Release Date: 9/27/2012 2:29:00 PM
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From Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems Public Affairs

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (NNS) -- The Navy and Army successfully executed a joint live-fire test to demonstrate Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) capability at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., Sept. 21.

NIFC-CA provides the Navy with extended over-land and over-water engagement ranges, and extends the over the radar horizon of the firing surface ship.

"NIFC-CA's ability to extend battlespace by providing engagement opportunities beyond the horizon is integral to the Navy's long-standing defense in depth air defense strategy and significantly increases Naval air defense reach afloat and ashore," said Capt. Brian Gannon, Future Combat Systems and Human Systems Integration major program manager. "This demonstration was a significant milestone for NIFC-CA capability and its supporting programs."

At the live-fire event, the Aegis Combat System at Desert Ship launched a Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) from a vertical-launching system and successfully intercepted a cruise missile representative target using sensor data provided by an Army Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS). The JLENS data was transmitted to Aegis via the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) network and was used by Aegis to engage the target beyond the horizon of Desert Ship.

This successful NIFC-CA test was the first live-fire engagement using tactical Aegis Baseline 9, CEC, SM-6 and JLENS systems, and the first use of non-naval elevated sensor data to support an Aegis over-the-horizon engagement.

NIFC-CA is a Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) program and integrates the Navy's Aegis Combat System, Cooperative Engagement Capability, SM-6, E-2D aircraft, and the Army' JLENS program.

PEO IWS, an affiliated program executive office of the Naval Sea Systems Command, manages surface ship and submarine combat technologies and systems, and coordinates Navy Enterprise solutions across ship platforms.

For more information about NAVSEA's and PEO IWS' work with combat and weapons systems, visit www.navsea.navy.mil/OnWatch/combat.html.

For more news from Naval Sea Systems Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/navsea/.

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