Following the theme "The Future is Now," Lockheed Martin today showcased its newest radar capabilities to U.S. Navy officials, legislators and international customers.

Lockheed Martin's Moorestown facility is world-renowned for its advanced naval radars, especially its SPY-1 phased array radar. SPY-1 is the main sensor in the Lockheed Martin-developed Aegis Weapon System, which is installed on 65 percent of the U.S. Navy's surface combatants, warships in Japan and Spain, and recently was selected for warships in Norway and Korea.

During today's event, Lockheed Martin publicly unveiled its newest radar, the S-Band Advanced Radar, or SBAR. SBAR provides greatly improved detection at much greater ranges than the current SPY-1 radar, a key requirement to counter ballistic missile defense threats. Additionally, SBAR will improve the U.S. Navy's ship self-defense and anti-air warfare capability. SBAR development reached a major milestone late last year with the successful demonstration of basic radar capability in its prototype.

"Today highlights the extraordinary capabilities we bring to customers around the world," said Fred Moosally, president of Lockheed Martin's Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems business. "This demonstration shows the engineering capability and drive to succeed that our customers have come to expect from Moorestown. It's exciting to see our advanced technology investments coming together into state-of-the-art radar products."

Noting Lockheed Martin's success in sea-based missile defense development and the importance of SBAR for that mission, guest speaker Rep. Jim Saxton, N.J.-3rd, said, "You've given our nation an edge against terrorism, and I appreciate the job you do for our community and, more importantly, for the job you do for our country."

In addition to SBAR, the event featured other capabilities in the SPY-1 "family of radars," including the SPY-1F, now being tested for the Royal Norwegian Navy.

The SPY-1F radar provides highly robust performance in a versatile package, specifically designed to support a wide range of naval vessels from corvettes and frigates all the way up to aircraft carriers. The SPY-1F's primary purpose is anti-air warfare and ship self-defense. As a multi- function radar, SPY-1F detects and tracks air and surface objects while providing missile communication. The first use of the SPY-1F will be on the F310 Norwegian frigate, a new class of ship designed by the Spanish shipbuilder IZAR and now under construction in Ferrol, Spain. The first of five SPY-1Fs for the Norwegian program recently completed its first live track at Lockheed Martin's Systems Acceptance Site. Testing will continue through the year before its final delivery to Spain for shipboard installation.

"SPY-1F will provide the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen Class frigates with excellent detection, tracking and fire control capability," said Commander Nils Stensones, Royal Norwegian Navy. "It is impressive to see this capability coming along according to plan, as successfully demonstrated during the first track event."

As the leading technology solutions provider and integrator to the U.S. government, Lockheed Martin focuses on the defense, information technology and homeland security requirements of the military services and civil agencies. The corporation's advanced technology solutions draw on world-class capabilities in systems engineering and integration, complex project management, software development and information technology. These align with emerging homeland security requirements for enhanced command and control, threat information alert and exchange, border control, critical infrastructure protection and emergency management and incident response. Lockheed Martin Corporation is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems