The U.S. Army has awarded Elbit Systems of America a $120.5 million contract to develop a next-generation battlefield system designed to give soldiers real-time intelligence and faster decision-making in combat, the company announced Sunday.
The contract, issued under the Army’s Other Transaction Authority procurement framework, covers development of Soldier Borne Mission Command, or SBMC, a system intended to connect soldiers with sensors, positioning data and shared battlefield intelligence through head-mounted technology.
Elbit Systems of America said the system integrates live multi-spectral sensors with positioning tools and displays the information through a head-borne interface designed to provide continuous situational awareness without requiring soldiers to look away from their surroundings.
The system will allow soldiers in a unit to share visual intelligence and threat data in real time, enabling what the company described as more synchronized operations and faster responses in complex combat environments.
“SBMC changes the speed of decision-making and enables confident, decisive action in moments that define the fight,” Erik Fox, senior vice president and general manager of warfighter systems at Elbit Systems of America, said in a statement.
The company said the system builds on its experience developing advanced military display and vision technologies, including the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle–Binocular system used by U.S. forces and sensor fusion systems integrated into the helmet display of the F-35 fighter jet.
Elbit Systems of America is working with technology firm Booz Allen Hamilton to develop the software backbone of the system, including networking architecture, extended-reality capabilities and artificial intelligence tools intended to process battlefield data.
Luke Savoie, president and CEO of Elbit Systems of America, said the system is designed to deliver processed data to soldiers with minimal delay, enabling them to “shoot, maneuver and share instantaneously.”
The system is intended to support the Army’s broader push toward human-machine teaming, autonomous systems and advanced battlefield networks, according to the company.
Elbit Systems of America said the new program is aimed at helping soldiers operate more effectively in complex and contested environments by integrating multiple streams of information into a single, real-time display.