Ukraine’s PATRIOT Batteries have a new communications asset to help improve their operations: the Dismounted Patriot Information Coordination Central (D-PICC). In a Reprogramming Action submitted to Congress last December, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) advised that $11 million would be used to procure an Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) Engagement Operations Center (EOC) and Integrated Collaborative Environment (ICE). The additional EOC & ICE were required as replacements for a D-PICC which had been provided to Ukraine from US Army stocks via Presidential Drawdown Authority at some point prior.
The D-PICC provides the same command & control capabilities as a normal Battalion Information Coordination Central (ICC), but in a dispersible package. As a US Army publication explains: “The D-PICC directs identification and engagement orders to subordinate Patriot Batteries. The D-PICC provides the ability to relocate the Battalion’s Information Coordination Central tactical weapons control system from a vehicle into a collection of transportable cases. This provides the same capabilities of the mounted system, but enables flexibility and maneuver options for battalions with expeditionary missions.”
One US Army unit that was publicly known to operate D-PICC was 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment, which is based at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. Then Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Neal Lape said of the new communications system: “Instead of having to fight in a consolidated footprint, the D-PICC allows our battalion to disperse, with no loss to command and control.” Allowing greater dispersal of assets is key to enhancing survivability. Russian forces have lost significant quantities of air defense systems due to highly formulaic deployments, in which radars, launchers and command & control vehicles are not widely dispersed. Ukraine by contrast has managed to limit PATRIOT loses thanks to the system’s greater flexibility in allowing for the separation of battery assets.
In another Reprogramming Action submitted earlier last year, the Comptroller advised that $19.2 million would be used to procure Integrated Fire Control Network (IFCN) Relays to replace PATRIOT Communications Relay Groups (CRG) and Antenna Mast Groups (AMG) which had also been provided to Ukraine from US Army stocks. $19.2 million would buy approximately 7 IFCN Relays.
Together, the EOC, ICE and IFCN Relay comprise a complete IBCS, which is being rolled out to replace PATRIOT’s legacy Command, Control, and Communications (C3) systems: the Engagement Control Station (ECS), AMG, CRG, ICC and Tactical Command Station (TCS). Providing these legacy PATRIOT assets to Ukraine has both enhanced the strength of their air defense network and allowed the US Army to accelerate the modernization of their own. IBCS is produced by Northrop Grumman, and PATRIOT batteries are produced by RTX’s Raytheon business unit. The US Army intends to field IBCS equipped THAAD batteries as well, but as previously noted by Defense Archives, funding for this integration work is not currently available.