Author: Defence Street Editor

REDONDO BEACH, Calif., 24th May 2023. Northrop Grumman Corporation recently completed a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command’s Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared Polar (NGP) program. The company is on track to begin production of the early-warning missile system in defense of the nation.

The design review establishes the company’s technical approach for the full integration of the Eagle-3 spacecraft with the infrared sensor, auxiliary and high-bandwidth communication payloads being developed at our Northrop Grumman site in Azusa, Calif.

“Northrop Grumman is on an accelerated path to delivering an early-warning missile system capable of surviving attacks from space, ground or cyber elements,” said Alex Fax, vice president, NGP, Northrop Grumman. “NGP satellites will maintain a direct line of communication back to the continental United States, limiting dependency on overseas ground station sites.”

The two NGP satellites, operating in highly elliptical orbits, are designed to detect and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles over the Northern Hemisphere. Broad coverage over the polar region offers the highest probability of spotting potential missile launches.

NGP can identify the infrared heat signatures of incoming threats and transmit this mission data to the ground. Based on the threat, decision-makers can then make responsive and informed decisions. This enhanced communication system also has resiliency features that reduce vulnerabilities to counter-space and cyberattacks.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world, and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 95,000 employees define possible every day.

• Joint Fires Network integrates third-party platforms with digital C2 during Northern Edge 2023

BETHESDA, Md., 23rd May 2023. Lockheed Martin successfully demonstrated digital command and control (C2) to synchronize joint all-domain fires during the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s (INDOPACOM) Northern Edge exercise near Alaska. The results will help shape future joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) capabilities.

The Big Picture

• All-Domain, Decision Superiority: The Joint Fires Network (JFN) demonstration integrated Lockheed Martin’s 21st Century Security technologies with third-party platforms to provide a persistent and resilient common operational picture across the services and all domains. With JFN, geographically dispersed commanders are able to simultaneously share a common understanding of the battlespace, fed by sensors from any platform, which can provide targeting guidance to any weapons system.
• Synchronized Planning & Execution: The exercise demonstrated the ability to reliably perform C2 functions across all the services, all levels of operation and across multiple domains. This is the first time true joint force synchronization has been demonstrated at this scale, a milestone for JADC2 interoperability.

Strategic Perspectives

“We are responding to priority national defense demands for integrating JADC2 infrastructure with proven technology to provide service members with decision advantage during live exercises at operational speed and scale. This ultimately enables the joint force to acquire true JADC2 capability years sooner than they would through the traditional defense acquisition process.”
– Amr Hussein, C4ISR vice president at Lockheed Martin

Dive Deeper

• Northern Edge is an INDOPACOM-led biennial exercise meant to improve interoperability, mature emerging technology and enhance combat readiness among the services. JFN is INDOPACOM’s vision to demonstrate near-term decision superiority capabilities to enhance joint fires planning and execution.
• Lockheed Martin’s 21st Century Security technologies make up core components of a JFN prototype solution. The system harnesses machine-to-machine integration to speed decision-making and increase targeting accuracy.
• The digital C2 system pairs proven DIAMONDShield™ multi-domain battle management, command and control (BMC2) software with the pedigree of the Virtualized Aegis Weapons System (VAWS) to task assets to perform rapid, simultaneous long range fires. During Northern Edge, the system successfully integrated with F-35s to deliver timely effects in multiple domains.
• Lockheed Martin facilitated a series of immersive operator training sessions on the C2 system ahead of the demonstration, using a high-fidelity mission simulator to give operators hands-on practice in a classified secret-level, operational-like setting.
• Northern Edge 2023 represents the sixth exercise in which Lockheed Martin has partnered with INDOPACOM to improve interoperability and advance integrated deterrence.

What’s Next?

Aligning with the INDOPACOM JFN vision to accelerate allies and partners interoperability, Lockheed Martin will participate in the upcoming Talisman Sabre exercise and potentially the U.S. Army’s Project Convergence Capstone Four. We are commitment to advancing JADC2 capabilities and delivering game-changing, innovative technology for the Joint Force.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 116,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

• GA-ASI Supporting U.S. Army Highlighting MDO Capabilities

SAN DIEGO, 23rd May 2023. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is supporting a demonstration that began in March and is featuring two U.S. Army-owned Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). GA-ASI – the developer of the GE-ER platform – was contracted by the Army to integrate and operate an array of new capabilities on the versatile UAS platform as part of an ongoing effort to modernize GE-ER for Multi-Domain Operations (MDO).

This demonstration employs improved capabilities, including long-range sensors – like those traditionally flown on manned platforms – and navigation capabilities, as well as rapid integration of advanced sensors and payloads tailorable to specific missions.

As part of this MDO configuration, the next-generation Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) used for the demonstration is the new Eagle-Eye Multi-Mode Radar (MMR) supplied by GA-ASI. The Eagle-Eye radar is an MMR that provides increased performance and couples well with other payloads.

“Eagle-Eye easily detects threats and provides precise location data, which eliminates unknowns for the ground tactical commander on today’s dynamic battlefields,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “Eagle-Eye and the rest of our MDO upgrades can provide reliable performance, ease of operation and true overmatch capability for the U.S. Army.”

Many of the MDO capabilities showcased in this demo are featured in the latest Gray Eagle model, the Gray Eagle 25M, which is designed to meet the range and accuracy to Detect, Identify, Locate & Report (DILR) stationary and moving targets. The Gray Eagle 25M’s Open Architecture allows easy implementation of Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) standards across control interfaces, avionics, datalinks, and provides the ability to integrate a customizable suite of multi-INT sensors providing the Stand-Off Survivability with Stand-In Capability required for Multi-Domain Operations.

About GA-ASI

General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator® RPA series and the Lynx® Multi-mode Radar. With more than seven million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas.

18th May 2023. For the first time ever, Lockheed Martin and Navantia Sistemas successfully formed a common operational picture between the new International Aegis Fire Control Loop (IAFCL) and SCOMBA (Sistema de Combate de los Buques de la Armada).

Navantia Sistemas is the Spanish Navy Combat Management System design agent for Spain’s Ministry of Defense’s new F-110 Bonifaz Class Frigate program.

F-110 is a five-ship program with a primary mission of Anti-Submarine Warfare with Anti-Air Warfare capability. Each object identified by one of the ship sensors is assigned a track by the combat system. The F-110’s combat system is a novel concept for an Aegis platform. While most Aegis platforms use the Aegis Combat System, the F-110 combat system design allows SCOMBA to manage the ships tracks.

From Moorestown to San Fernando: Innovating through Partnership

The track exchange demonstration, held at Lockheed Martin’s Aegis-SCOMBA Integration Center in Moorestown, NJ, was supported by an international engineering team, including members from Lockheed Martin, Navantia Sistemas, United States Navy, DGAM (Directorate General of Armament and Material) and Spanish Navy. The IAFCL was able to send simulated SPY-7 radar data to SCOMBA and receive the associated SCOMBA host track in return, as well as receive non-IAFCL tracks from the SCOMBA system.

This event followed years of hard work by the collaborative international design, software, and integration teams from Lockheed Martin and Navantia Sistemas. IAFCL computer program code is built from the Aegis Common Source Library (CSL). The successful test at the Aegis-SCOMBA Integration Center proves that IAFCL can be integrated into a larger host nation combat system.

“We are continuing our decades-long cooperation with Navantia on the F-110 frigate program and collaborating on commercial opportunities to export the platform and its systems.”
— Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President of Multi-Domain Combat Solutions

Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President of Multi-Domain Combat Solutions, said the company’s partnership with Spanish Navy and Navantia has yielded successful integrations between the Aegis Weapon System and the F-100 and F-110 frigates for the Spanish Navy, as well as frigates for the Norwegian and Australian Navies for over 27 years.

“We remain firmly committed to our industrial partnerships in Spain,” DePietro said. “We are continuing our decades-long cooperation with Navantia on the F-110 frigate program and collaborating on commercial opportunities to export the platform and its systems.”

The Lockheed Martin and Navantia Sistemas teams continue to mature the interface between the two systems, exchanging development plans and testing results. This will lead to the first F-110 IAFCL computer program export, delivery, and installation at Navantia’s Land-Based Test Site in San Fernando, Spain in 2024.

Looking Ahead: Combat System Light Off

This initial IAFCL and SCOMBA integration was the critical first building block to reach Combat System Light Off for the first ship of class, F-111, in 2027. The F-110 computer program integration and test will continue after land-based test site integration with the first Solid State SPY-7(V)2 Radar Engineering Development Model being installed at the Aegis-SCOMBA Integration Center in 2024.

“International collaboration and technological advantage are the foundations upon which a robust, agile and flexible defense is based.”
— Donato Martínez, Navantia Defence Systems and Services Director

Navantia Defence Systems and Services director Donato Martínez said the company’s long-term collaboration with Lockheed Martin is marking a new milestone that places it at the technological vanguard of military shipbuilding.

“On the basis of work and solid relationships, both companies are now developing the F-110 frigates — the new generation, state-of-the-art frigates for the Spanish Navy”, Martínez said. “International collaboration and technological advantage are the foundations upon which a robust, agile and flexible defense is based, and not only governments and the armed forces but also industry has a crucial role to play.”

In addition to the ships and Moorestown land-based test site, the radar and combat system will also be installed at the Spanish Navy’s Centro de Integración de Sistemas en Tierra facility in Rota, Spain, prior to installation on board the F-110 frigates.

“With Lockheed Martin’s focus on ensuring our customers stay ahead of ready,” DePietro said, “it’s important we develop and deliver mission-focused defense capabilities by innovating with agility, urgency, and affordability. This integration is another step forward in providing Spain with the world’s most advanced and capable weapon system.”