Lockheed Martin has been selected as the winner of two system design and demonstration programs to develop ground sensors for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The awards are worth approximately $85.2 million over 50 months. A third contract, for a medium-range electro- optical/infrared sensor, is in negotiations.

Lockheed Martin will develop a long-range reconnaissance and surveillance vehicle mast system and a system for aided target recognition. The contracts, awarded by Raytheon Company , the Ground Sensor Integrator for FCS, support the U.S. Army's initiative for more agile and lethal forces able to rapidly converge on regions of conflict and dominate the battlefield. The ground sensors will be deployed on a variety of new combat vehicles that are also being developed as part of the Army's overall FCS program.

"Our FCS ground systems incorporate unique sensor technology used in Lockheed Martin's Arrowhead(TM) and Sniper(R) XR(TM) airborne systems and provide ground warfighters reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities equal to those provided to aircrews," said Tom Simmons, vice president of Fire Control at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Warfighters will gain wide area search with aided target detection and recognition and will be able to identify threats rapidly well beyond their lethal engagement range. Data and live video images from the system are transmitted via the integrated battlefield communications network to commanders who are able to make quick, well-informed, tactical decisions."

Lockheed Martin program director Bob Costello noted other benefits for the military. "Our ground reconnaissance and surveillance sensor system provides a revolutionary capability to automatically scan the horizon and relay information about a large number of targets back to the operator in real time," Costello said. "We're anxious to work with Raytheon to show the entire Army team that our systems can help warfighters during their critical engagements by seeing first, engaging first and winning decisively."

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.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin