Northrop Grumman’s Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD C2) system has been successfully fielded in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, creating air and missile defence interoperability amongst the Baltic states, NATO and US forces.

The FAAD C2 system provides command and control for collective short-range air defence (SHORAD) systems to conduct counter unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) and SHORAD missions. The system works by receiving air track data from multiple sources to create a single integrated air picture, delivering both the local air picture and the status of SHORAD weapons.

Northrop Grumman had previously been awarded a contract to modernise the Baltics’ air defence and C-UAS capabilities in alignment with the US European Command’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence Plan. The December 2021 deal, worth around $14m, saw the upgrading of air defence and C-UAS capabilities into EUCOM’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense plan.

The company has conducted FAAD C2 training with the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian armies in the Baltic region to help them integrate with NATO air defences.

“FAAD C2 will enable the Baltic region forces to make faster, better-informed decisions to defeat short range and enemy unmanned aerial threats,” said Rebecca Torzone, vice president and general manager, combat systems and mission readiness, Northrop Grumman, in a 5 June release.

Northrop Grumman states that the FAAD C2 capability can be deployed in several theatres of operation simultaneously, to provide C2 for short range air defence, C-UAS and counter-rocket, artillery and mortar missions.