The United States Air Force has selected an industry team led by Lockheed Martin to be the Air and Space Operations Center Weapon System Integrator (AOC WSI). Under this multi-year contract, the team will work with the Air Force to standardize, modernize, sustain and transform the more than 20 AOCs worldwide into interoperable net-centric weapon systems that will provide commanders real-time, common operational views of the global battlefield. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, cost-plus-fixed fee, and cost-plus- award fee contract, including funding for operations, maintenance, and sustainment, is worth $589 million.

"Our team is honored to support the Air Force in this transformational effort," said Stan Sloane, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin's Integrated Systems & Solutions (IS&S) business area. "With our customer we'll evolve today's AOCs into integrated net centric operations, incorporating essential combat capabilities that will enable joint and coalition warfighters to continue to dominate command and control in future conflicts, while improving operational efficiencies."

The Lockheed Martin team includes Raytheon, SAIC, IBM, L-3 Communications, Dynamics Research Corporation, Intelligent Software Solutions, Gestalt, and Computer Sciences Corporation.

As the primary systems used by Joint Force Air Component Commanders to exercise command and control of air and space power worldwide, AOCs are highly complex facilities with up to 48 discrete systems that support diverse missions. While they share some functions, their missions are supported by different systems, operating procedures and personnel requirements. The AOC WSI effort will evolve this heterogeneous infrastructure into a standardized, seamless, integrated enterprise. This will enable interoperability across the AOCs for faster access to intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, targeting and other important operational data. It will provide a common technical baseline for efficient and cost-effective technology upgrades while reducing the cost and footprint for deployed personnel and material.

"By implementing an open, service-oriented architecture across the AOC enterprise, the government and Lockheed Martin team will enable greater collaboration internally within the AOC and externally with other joint and coalition warfare elements," said John Mengucci, vice president and general manager of Department of Defense Systems for Lockheed Martin IS&S. "This approach will also allow the Air Force to quickly and easily accommodate new capabilities and technologies, ensuring a cost-effective, low risk growth path to net centric operations. Warfighters can expect rapid operational improvements that consistently meet or exceed expectations."

The AOC WSI team will take full advantage of the Lockheed Martin Center for Innovation in Suffolk, Virginia, relying on the facility's powerful analysis, modeling and simulation tools in a "C2ISR Wind Tunnel" configuration for rapid analysis of potential improvements to operating concepts, processes and systems. The Center provides a rich experimentation environment as well as an infrastructure for collaboration with AOC Weapon System stakeholders and organizations. This shared access to innovative industry and joint C2ISR experimentation, along with powerful net-centric warfare analysis tools such as the C2ISR Wind Tunnel, will enable rapid combat capability upgrades and reduce program risk.

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