Lockheed to design Air Force system

An industry team led by Lockheed Martin Corp. today will begin developing architecture for the U.S. Air Force's global network of command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and platforms.

Under the potential three-year, $50 million contract, the industry team will work with Air Force officials to create standards and business rules for the systems, and will form a network of land-, air-, sea- and space-based sensors, according to a Lockheed spokesman.

The top-level architecture will be the hub of the next-generation Command and Control Constellation, and will be designed to let existing and future systems share information with the network. Upcoming portions of the system include the multi-sensor C2 aircraft E-10A and the Distributed Common Ground System, which is designed for use with reconnaissance intelligence.

The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., awarded the contract Aug. 1. Other companies taking part include Boeing Co., Raytheon Co., IBM Corp. and L-3 Communications Inc. The group works directly on 10 of the 13 nodes of the constellation, according to the Lockheed spokesman.