Lockheed Martin has debuted a new airborne signals intelligence system from its Dragon series of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) configurations at the ongoing Defence Services Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London, UK.
Called Dragon Dome, the new configuration is designed to link ISR, air operations and missile defence systems at the battle management level, enabling operators to work together in a shared environment and optimise combat operations.
The system has been developed in response to increasingly complex requirements of warfighters for integrated air and missile defence and also for constant battlespace awareness, according to the company.
Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions C4ISR Systems vice-president Jim Quinn said, ”Dragon Dome can dramatically improve the ability to make decisions faster, operate command centres with fewer people and have higher confidence in achieving mission success.”
Dragon Dome, which is predicated on Lockheed’s internally developed DiamondShield air and missile defence system, can link data from ISR, command and control (C2), and missile defence assets to create a four-dimensional view of the battlefield.
Capable of advising operators on the best system to be used for threat elimination, the next-generation system also supports rapid integration of new capabilities and traditional systems, while reducing total ownership costs due to its open, non-proprietary software infrastructure.
The system, which is based on US and Nato standards and communication protocols, can be readily integrated with coalition forces to help expand the operating nations’ defensive capabilities and also enhance its performance in collaboration with allied nations.
Also including Dragon Scout, Dragon Shield, Dragon Stare, Dragon Star, Dragon Den and Net Dragon, Lockheed’s Dragon family is designed to address specific ISR requirements that support military, homeland defence, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance missions.
Image: A Dragonstar airborne ISR Multi-INT Lab (AML) aircraft during its flight. Photo: © 2013 Lockheed Martin Corporation.
