Air Force awards another Cheyenne contract

The Air Force recently awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $287 million contract to continue updating computer systems inside Cheyenne Mountain, the service's impenetrable command and control facility located in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Air Force's Integrated Space Command and Control program merges the command and control systems of the Cold War-era North American Aerospace Defense Command and the newly created, war-on-terrorism-era Strategic Command. The computer systems' integration will give civilian and military leaders greater warning of enemy aircraft, ballistic missiles and computer network and space attacks, according to a statement issued by officials at the Defense Department Dec. 24.

The Air Force to date awarded Lockheed Martin's Integrated Systems and Solutions business unit, headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., $49 million of the $287 million contract, the DOD statement said. Lockheed will complete the update of computer hardware and software in 2008.

The $1.5 billion ISC2 program will reach an initiative milestone in late January when the Air Force turns off the Mountain Sentry legacy command and control system and turns on a new ISC2 system, according to a Lockheed Martin official. ISC2 gives the service a stock-market-like computer network in terms of posting, sharing and transmitting information, the official said.