US company Booz Allen Hamilton has teamed up with L3Harris to deliver the second mobile command center prototype for the US Air Force under a $315-million contract.
The deal, which could last for up to five years, covers the Tactical Operations Center-Light (TOC-L) prototype. It is part of the Distributed Battle Management Node, which fits into the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS).
It “aims to enhance portability, survivability, mobility, and ease of use through reduced size, weight, power, while featuring improved usability and maintainability to reduce training time and improve operational readiness,” said Lt. Col. Micah Graber, ABMS Deployable Systems Branch materiel leader.
As it is a key capability for the Department of the Air Force Battle Network, “the system will also feature ABMS Digital Infrastructure and Cloud-Based Command and Control software capability for enhanced enterprise interoperability and expanded data access.”
This prototype supports the broader Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) effort, which is the military’s plan to connect all branches across all domains into one fast, integrated command and control (C2) network.
“We engineered a TOC-L prototype that offers warfighters enhanced situational awareness so they can make better decisions faster,” said Khalid Syed, a senior VP in Booz Allen’s Defense Technology Group.
Meanwhile, L3Harris will support sustainment and modernization of TOC-L across multiple combatant commands.
Tactical Operations Center-Light
Booz Allen’s TOC-L is a compact, lightweight, and scalable system that uses the company’s Modular Detachment Kit, which integrates disparate tactical C2 data systems.
The kit’s “hardware can correlate any sensor data with any weapon system to simultaneously take on any target or multiple targets. On the software side, the system can use data from any source, government or commercial, or from a partner nation,” according to Syed.
Apart from partnering with L3Harris for the rapid prototyping effort, Booz Allen will also leverage its C2 Tech Facility in North Charleston, South Carolina, as well as its Flagship Engineering Facility in Panama City Beach, Florida.
The two companies teamed up for the first TOC-L prototype in January 2023 and delivered it by October of the same year, ABMS TOC-L program manager Stephen Ciulla informed Breaking Defense.
