Common Aviation Command and Control System (CAC2S) delivers airspace management, close air support and air defense operations to standardize aviation command and control capabilities for the Marine Corps.

A General Dynamics C4 Systems-led team has received a $5 million U.S. Marine Corps contract to develop an integrated technology demonstrator of the Sensor Data Subsystem (SDS). The subsystem is the last of three major subsystems that comprise Increment 1 of the Marine Corps’ Common Aviation Command and Control System (CAC2S). The system will enable unprecedented coordination between aviation assault and close air support for Marines on the ground.

SDS processes and combines real-time sensor input from expeditionary radars and other weapon systems sources to form a common operational picture for commanders and their staffs at the Marine Air Control Group level.

Once the other two subsystems, the Processing and Display Subsystem and the Communications Subsystem, are integrated with the Sensor Data Subsystem, CAC2S will become a scalable, modular and flexible command and control system capable of rapid deployment.

CAC2S is High-Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV)-based and transportable using helicopters, aircraft and amphibious ships, significantly increasing Marine Corps’ battlefield mobility. It also is smaller, lighter and more power-efficient than previous generations of Marine aviation command and control systems.

Manny Mora, vice president and general manager of Battle Management Systems for General Dynamics C4 Systems, said, “Once the Sensor Data Subsystem is combined with the other two subsystems, CAC2S will provide airspace management, close air support and air defense operations in one standardized system for Marine aviation command and control operations.”

The General Dynamics team includes Fulton, Maryland-based Raytheon Solipsys.Raytheon Solipsys is responsible for providing the Multi-Source Correlator Tracker, which tracks real-time radar inputs, and the Tactical Display Framework, a high-performance, real-time tactical display of air operations. Smartonix, Stafford, Va.; Ternion, Huntsville, Ala.; and L-3 Communications, San Diego, Calif., are also members of the team.

In 2009, General Dynamics was selected by the Marine Corps to provide nine Combat Operations Center (COC) Capability Set III systems as part of the government’s CAC2S initial integration of the Processing and Display Subsystem.

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