A Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman team has successfully accomplished a key requirements review for the Transformational Communications MILSATCOM (TCM) Space Segment with its customer, the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. TCM will deliver highly-reliable, survivable, network-centric communications to thousands of deployed and mobile users around the globe.

More than 120 government representatives from the USAF MILSATCOM Joint Program Office and user communities, including representatives from all services within the Department of Defense, recently completed a two-day Space Segment Requirements Review (SSRR) at Lockheed Martin Space Systems facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The successful review represented an important milestone in the Risk Reduction & System Definition phase of the program, demonstrating to the customer and user community the Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman team's understanding of the mission and the user needs, how they will be met, and the system approach to best serve those needs as well as product development and technology maturity progress.

"This important review effectively demonstrated the advanced state of our network technologies and how we can significantly improve the quality and quantity of protected military communications," said Rick Skinner, vice president, transformational communications for Lockheed Martin. "We look forward to working with our customer and advancing an integrated, internet- like communications solution for the future battlefield."

The Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman team, which also includes ViaSat, Rockwell Collins, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Stratogis, Cisco, L-3 Communications, C&H Associates and Caspian, is conducting risk reduction demonstrations and system trade studies over a 27-month period under one of two $472 million contracts awarded to industry in January 2004 by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.

"The successful definition of the requirements in this review puts us on firm footing to proceed with further advancement of our space router, laser communications, and communications-on-the-move nuller technologies," said Stuart Linsky, program manager, transformational communications for Northrop Grumman. "We are confident that we can field these capabilities for our warfighters on plan."

This effort will lead to a multi-billion dollar acquisition and operations phase contract to be awarded to a single team in 2006.

TCM represents the next step toward transitioning the Department of Defense wideband and protected communications satellite architecture into a single network comprising multiple satellite, ground and user segment components. The system will network mobile and in-motion warfighters; sensors; weapons; and communications, command and control nodes located on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), piloted aircraft, on the ground, in the air, at sea or in space.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2003 sales of $31.8 billion.

Media Contact: Steve Tatum, 408-742-7531; e-mail, Stephen.o.tatum@lmco.com

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin