TRW's FBCB2 System Tested at U.S. Army's Division Capstone Exercise

    FORT IRWIN, Calif.--April 16, 2001--In the Army's largest exercise to date to determine the system and force effectiveness of the TRW-developed FBCB2 (Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below) software, the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas, returned to the National Training Center, four years after the initial Advanced Warfighting Experiment - this time as the Army's First Digitized Division.
    Phase One of the Division Capstone Exercise (DCX), which ran from April 1-14, pitted the world-class, non-digitized opposing force of the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., against two fully digitized brigades equipped with FBCB2-produced Version 4 Applique+ computers (Pentium 3 class machines running Version 3.3.3 of FBCB2 software). The performance of approximately 1,000 various platforms with FBCB2, ranging from Humvees to Bradley fighting vehicles and Abrams tanks, was observed by the U.S. Training and Doctrine Command as to how advanced information technology enhances survivability and lethality of the brigade, using "information dominance" concepts such as precision and current situation awareness and digital command and control.
    Part of the tactical edge that battlefield digitization provided during this exercise was a commander's ability to execute unit task reorganizations, changing the movement of troops in a matter of minutes digitally rather than by voice data and paperwork, which can take longer and with far less precision.
    "FBCB2 was ready for the test," said B.K. Richard, TRW FBCB2 program manager. "Last year was the hard year - we had to get the software ready and finish the hardware. This year we're seeing the fruits of that labor."
    In preparation for this milestone event, TRW successfully completed production and installation of units targeted for the DCX by the "Everything in Place" date of Nov. 15. Final FBCB2 software, containing more than a million lines of software, also was completed on time to support a long sequence of training exercises.
    The next test scheduled after the DCX1 will be the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation in December. This event will focus on the operational readiness of Version 3.4 software performance. If successful, FBCB2 will get a go-ahead for full rate production and a rollout of 2,000 to 3,000 computer systems per year to meet the Army's acquisition objective to purchase approximately 59,000 systems.
    TRW Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, provides advanced technology products and services to the automotive, aerospace, telecommunications, and information technology markets worldwide. TRW, which is celebrating its 100th year of operations in 2001, had year-end sales of $17.2 billion. For more information, visit www.trw.com .