These multi-intelligence software upgrades will enable the acceleration of the tasking, collection, processing, exploitation and dissemination of data to enable warfighters to efficiently direct battlespace engagements using rapid and timely intelligence. The enhancements are essential to the fielded ground stations being utilized by the U.S. Navy, Army and Marine Corps.

The system upgrade, called 6.1 Common Software Baseline, will enable the Department of Defense's distributed common ground system (DCGS) to provide high-resolution imagery in different spectral bands from the U-2 aircraft platform in order to enhance the U-2's detection and discrimination of targets.

A dynamic sensor control point-and-click feature will allow the imagery analyst to zoom in from a wide-area view to a smaller, specific area to focus on potential targets for combat identification. The database stores imagery for later reference and correlation with other imagery, signals and moving target indicator returns to identify additional features regarding an area of interest or potential target.

Currently, nearly 50 fielded ISR systems use the Northrop Grumman common software baseline, including the Army's Tactical Exploitation System, the Navy's Joint Fires Network (a key component of the Navy's newly designated distributed common ground system, which exploits and correlates multiple sensors for streamlined targeting), the Air Force's Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Manager (the multi-intelligence and airborne visualization workstation architecture embedded in the Distributed Ground Station), the Extended Tether Program (the capability to downlink and process data from remote areas), and the Marine Corps' Tactical Exploitation Group (a mobile imagery ground station that supports tactical imagery exploitation needs and maximizes the use of existing Defense Department systems and interfaces), all of which are jointly interoperable between the U.S. military services.

"Our common software baseline is the foundation for a reliable multi-intelligence architecture," said Ken Wilson, vice president of C4ISRT Networked Systems at Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector. "More than 20 of our Northrop Grumman ISR systems directly and successfully supported Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom."

The Northrop Grumman multi-intelligence family of ISR systems reduced the timeline to provide actionable intelligence to the warfighters who directed the liberation of Iraq and who are now engaged in the current follow-up operations.

Northrop Grumman's open architecture uses commercial-off-the-shelf and government-off-the-shelf hardware and software. The Northrop Grumman-developed software code supports commercial and government standards and interfaces. The multi-intelligence software is owned and controlled by the U.S. Government and is designed to easily add new capabilities from multiple vendors.

The next incremental spiral upgrade to Northrop Grumman's Multi-INT architecture (CSB 7.0) is scheduled to be released this summer. Among other things, it will integrate the Air Force DCGS Integration Backbone currently under development.

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