Lockheed Martin has received a contract from the US Air Force (USAF) to develop an air and missile defence software planner, which will provide the service with an ability to see and better understand dynamic global situations.
Awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), the $8m contract requires the company to provide an integrated air and missile defence planner for integration into the US Air Force Air Operations Center (AOC).
The planner developed under the contract will be designed to link dissimilar weapon and sensor data with map-based planning tools and decision aids, which will enable AOC operators to collaboratively plan missions with greater speed and higher confidence.
Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions C4ISR vice-president Rob Smith said the planner offers an unprecedented capability to analyse multiple sources of information to support rapid and efficient deployment decisions.
”Our goal is to enhance situational awareness and facilitate collaborative planning for all combatant commands,” Smith said.
The integration of missile defence data sources onto a common visualisation platform allows operators to easily generate and publish planning tactical operations documents, which in turn will support creation of an area air defence plan.
The planner also incorporates an open, non-proprietary software architecture, which will enable the air force to rapidly introduce new capabilities, simultaneously facilitating integration with conventional systems and reducing total ownership costs.
The planner is scheduled to be supplied to AFLCMC, located at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, and the Air Combat Command, located at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, US.
Image: Lockheed’s air and missile defence software planner will be integrated into USAF’s Air Operations Center. Photo: courtesy of AF.mil.