U.S. Marines vehicles equipped with new Blue Force Tracker situational awareness 10712161

Military Defense Technology - Joint Battle Command-Platform
 
U.S. Marines vehicles equipped with new Blue Force Tracker situational awareness.
Several U.S. Marine Corps ground vehicles are getting an upgrade, thanks to an Army-Marine Corps program called Joint Battle Command-Platform. JBC-P gives commanders across the battlespace better command, control and situational awareness than ever before.
     
Several U.S. Marine Corps ground vehicles are getting an upgrade, thanks to an Army-Marine Corps program called Joint Battle Command-Platform. JBC-P gives commanders across the battlespace better command, control and situational awareness than ever before. U.S. Marine Cpl. Kyle Denny with the 3rd Light Armor Reconnaissance from Twentynine Palms, Calif., does a system check at Joint Battle Command-Platform Nov. 11 ,2016 during Network Integration Evaluation 14.1 at McGregor Range, N.M.
     
U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command has fielded nearly 1,100 of the systems to the M88 Tank Retriever, Assault Breacher Vehicle and High Mobility Multi-wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV, platforms since July.

Commonly referred to as Blue Force Tracker by Marines, JBC-P is a family of systems that includes Joint Capability Release software and legacy BFT mounted systems.

“JBC-P is the Marine Corps’ primary command, control and situational awareness tool for the battalion and below,” said Capt. Jamie Claflin, JBC-P project officer at MCSC (Marine Corps Systems Command). “It allows the commander to see friendly forces in his area of responsibility in real time—including other services—and also provides situational awareness data that is reported into the common operating picture.”

This first iteration of the system, JBC-P Increment I, provides faster satellite communications, secure encrypted transmissions, and enhanced interoperability with the Joint Tactical Common Operation Picture Workstation, or JTCW, it feeds. Satellite communications provide long-range capability many vehicles did not have before.

The Army’s legacy Blue Force Tracker system was procured by the Corps in 2003, through an urgent universal need statement in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The JBC-P program is still led by the Army, but they partner with the Corps through an agreement called an Authority to Participate granted by the MCSC commander.

More upgrades are on the horizon for JBC-P. Beginning in fiscal year 2018, MCSC’s JBC-P team will begin fielding JBC-P Increment II to additional Marine Corps platforms, including the Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement, Logistics Vehicle System Replacement, Assault Amphibious Vehicle, Light Armored Vehicle and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.


The Increment II upgrade will include new, improved hardware for the additional vehicles, and will be implemented as a technical refresh to vehicles previously equipped with Increment I. Increment II will give Marines a modernized graphical user interface with preformatted messages to ease and speed communication between JBC-P systems. It will also provide a new terrestrial communication capability that allows Marines to communicate using data-capable radios when satellite communications are denied or degraded.

The JBC-P team at MCSC is part of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Command, Control and Communications program office. MC3 develops and sustains MAGTF command and control systems; counter-improvised explosive device and Force Protection systems; tactical communication systems; and networking and satellite communications for the Marine Corps.