Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below



Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) is a Linux-based (older versions are Solaris based) communication platform designed for commanders to track friendly and hostile forces on the battlefield. It increases a vehicle commander's situational awareness of the battlefield by gathering information near real-time based on vehicle locations being updated on the battlefield. This information is viewed graphically, and exchanged via both free and fixed text message formats (instead of verbal collection of reports).

Development
The development of the system is managed by Project Manager, Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below, a component of the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office – Command Control and Communications Tactical (PEO C3T). PEO C3T is based at APG at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland.

FBCB2 was tested under the First Digitized Division 4th Infantry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas, and a series of what were called "Advanced Warfighting Experiments" at the National Training Center near Barstow, California, starting in 1997. The division conducted Limited User Test on the equipment in 1998, and the system was approved for production. It was then tested and implemented under the Force XXI concept that stemmed from Operation Desert Storm/Shield. The system was first used in actual military operations in the former Yugoslavia in 1998. It played a key role in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan starting in 2003, where it is still in use.

The United States Army awarded TRW (as of 2002, a part of Northrop Grumman) the prime contract for FBCB2 in 1995; ESP (Engineering Solutions and Products) is now the prime contractor for the system. Work has begun on plans to reach the level of nearly 160,000 tracking systems in the Army within a few years; recently the United States Army, the United States Marines Corps have reached agreement to standardize on a new variant of the system to be called Joint Battle Command-Platform.

The FBCB2 system, and the BFT system, which is a variant of it, have won numerous awards and accolades, including: recognition in 2001 as one of the five best-managed software programs in the entire U.S. Government, the 2003 Institute for Defense and Government Advancement’s award for most innovative U.S. Government program, the 2003 Federal Computer Week Monticello Award (given in recognition of an information system that has a direct, meaningful impact on human lives), and the Battlespace Information 2005 “Best Program in Support of Coalition Operations".