Upgrade for North America’s net

has received $25.6m to provide the US Air Force with capability upgrades to the Battle Control System-Fixed (BCS-F) for Air Combat Command, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense) and Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH).

‘Having common software and a common human-machine interface between the fixed and mobile communities will reduce development, testing, and training costs for the Air Force,’ said Daniel De Sollar, director of ThalesRaytheonSystems Air C2 Systems in the US. ‘The upgrades will not only ensure a common look and feel between today's BCS-F and the mobile command and control variant, but they will also convert to the Linux operating system in order to take advantage of the latest hardware available.’

BCS is said to be the next-generation air sovereignty command and control system operated by NORAD, US Northern Command, and Pacific Command. The BCS mission is to control the airspace over the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii and Canada and serves as the early warning mechanism for US homeland defence.

ThalesRaytheonSystems will provide advanced technology that reportedly features increased sensor capacity while improving interoperability among hundreds of legacy sensors, including more types of radars than any other air force system. It correlates data from airborne, ground, naval and civil air traffic sensors into an integrated air picture that allows commanders to monitor the airspace above, beyond and within the US and Canadian borders.