Lockheed Martin today opened a new facility to support the integration and test of mission systems for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The Mission Systems Integration Center (MSIC) is a full scale version of the LCS mission control center with live equipment, combat management system software and simulations of combat systems equipment.

"The MSIC enables Lockheed Martin to integrate and test the entire LCS mission system at an accelerated pace and at an affordable price with minimal risk," said Fred Moosally, Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors president. "This state-of-the-art facility also provides the Navy with the ability to thoroughly operate and exhaustively test the LCS mission systems before the first ship launches."

The MSIC supports the LCS mission systems throughout their entire life cycle including development, integration and testing, and maintenance once the ships are deployed. The facility also provides opportunities for crew familiarization and training before going to sea.

The MSIC is one of several Lockheed Martin maritime-based facilities that together create a collaborative environment for leveraging integration and test resources across multiple programs. The labs connect to the company's classified network, expanding the reach of the MSIC to U.S. Navy labs and industry partners throughout the country. This capability also enables interoperability testing between LCS and other systems such as Aegis, sea-based missile defense, DD(X) and the Coast Guard's Deepwater program.

The COMBATSS-21 combat management system, which will be installed aboard the LCS, serves as the foundation of the systems that will be tested and integrated at the MSIC. COMBATSS-21's open architecture and extensive reuse of software and components from other systems enables cross-platform collaboration.

"The LCS team has successfully leveraged and reused existing capabilities and assets to reduce program cost and risk," said Dave Broadbent, vice president and general manager, Littoral Ships & Systems at Lockheed Martin. "COMBATSS-21 is a significant example of this work, with more than 95 percent software reuse and a flexible, open architecture design."

LCS is a new class of surface combatant for the U.S. Navy, designed to defeat enemy threats in the shallow coastal waters. The Lockheed Martin team's LCS is a low cost, affordable solution that provides the Navy with a maneuverable, flexible, networked surface combatant. The keel was laid for the nation's first LCS, Freedom, on June 2 in Marinette, WI.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 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