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[infowar.de] FBC2B: US Army shares radios to avoid Gulf fratricide
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<http://www.janes.com/defence/land_forces/news/jdw/jdw030307_1_n.shtml>
Jane's Defence Weekly, 7 March 2003
US Army shares radios to avoid Gulf fratricide
By Kim Burger, JDW Staff Reporter, Washington DC
The US Army is widely distributing its premier tactical communications
system - the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) system -
to US ground units and allied forces to share information on the
battlefield and help avoid fratricide in a war with Iraq, according to
industry and army officials.
The army's 4th Infantry Division (4th ID) is being deployed to the Gulf
equipped with the full digital capability of the FBCB2 system and its
Tactical Internet, including the tracking of friendly and enemy forces
and tactical battlefield details. The army is providing more than 1,000
systems to additional units to enable other army, US Marine Corps (USMC)
and allied units to hook into the system.
The US Army has about 8,000 FBCB2 systems on hand. About 50 are being
delivered for use by a division-level unit of an unspecified coalition
partner, officials said. As the UK is the only US ally providing
substantial ground combat forces, it is likely that the three UK
brigades, particularly 7th Armoured Brigade, will receive the system.
The US 3rd Infantry Division and all other US army units likely to be
involved in combat will receive the system, an army spokeswoman said.
The USMC is buying a limited number of FBCB2 systems, primarily to
enable the army to be able to identify the marines, a programme official
said. The USMC's Data Automated Communications Terminals can identify
USMC and army units, the official added.
Friendly-fire incidents were responsible for 24% of US casualties in the
1990-91 Gulf conflict, as well as most of UK ground casualties. Of the
US fratricide incidents, 61% involved ground-to-ground incidents,
according to US government figures. These accidents, as well as the
bombing of a Canadian infantry unit by a US F-16 in April 2002 in
Afghanistan, have led officials to highlight the blue-force tracking
capabilities of FBCB2.
Units outside the 4th ID will not have access to the Tactical Internet,
which uses Single-Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System and Enhanced
Position Location Reporting System line-of-sight radios. Instead, other
units will be given systems that use a satellite link, enabling
communications at greater range and in complex terrain where
line-of-sight communications are not possible, officials said.
364 of 736 words
[End of non-subscriber extract.]
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