Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $2 billion contract to lead the development of an advanced Air Force network that will provide a new level of high-bandwidth, secure, global communications to transform the speed of command and provide a vital information link to deployed mobile forces.

The 10-year contract for the TSAT Missions Operations System (TMOS) program will link the Transformational Satellite Communications Systems (TSAT) program to the Global Information Grid (GIG) and is expected to commence operations in 2014.

"We are honored to have been selected by the Air Force's MILSATCOM Joint Program Office to lead this program," said Stan Sloane, Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President for the Integrated Systems & Solutions business area. "TMOS will build a mission operations center for the next-generation of protected satellite communications for the United States and will ensure an improved level of communications to the warfighter."

TMOS will provide the network and operations management segments for TSAT, as well as enable the TSAT interfaces to the GIG. The TSAT network is essential to providing deployed forces with the dramatically increased networking requirements of modern military operations. Unlike other DoD networks, TSAT affords mobile forces a high-bandwidth connection to the GIG from virtually anywhere in the world, while protecting its users from enemy detection, eavesdropping and jamming. Its high-capacity links will dramatically increase the military's capability to support its deployed forces with real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

"The Lockheed Martin team has put together a tremendous solution based upon four years of continuous customer interaction," said Ron Nakamoto, Lockheed Martin Vice President and General Manager for Intelligence Systems. "TMOS will enable speed of command whenever and wherever our forces are deployed."

Work on the TMOS program will be conducted in San Jose and Los Angeles, California to start and will eventually involve more than 300 people including subcontractors working around the country. The Lockheed Martin-led team includes leading defense and commercial IT experts, including Northrop Grumman, Telcordia Technologies, SAIC and Verizon.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2005 sales of $37.2 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin