Lockheed tackles Web-based command and control

Lockheed Martin Corp. won a two-year, $24.7 million contract to continue developing a Web-enabled system that will allow commanders within different branches of the military to work together to execute strike missions and search-and-rescue operations in real time, the company said today.

The system will connect Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and special operations systems into a unified application that gives warfighters instant, integrated access from any command and control location, including ships, air operations centers and forward-deployed command posts.

The system, called the Web-enabled Execution Management Capability, makes "collaboration faster, easier and more accurate than ever, giving commanders a common targeting and execution system they can tap into from anywhere on the battlefield," said Spider Richardson, Lockheed Martin's vice president of command and control systems.

The system's Web-based infrastructure cuts the amount of specialized hardware and software required to run the application. It is fully compliant with the Defense Department's future Global Information Grid and net-centric enterprise services architectures.

The system's open architecture enables it to interface with other current and future battle management applications, and also offers additional mission coordination management applications that are not yet available.

The Air Force awarded the contract under its Network-Centric Solutions program, known as Netcents. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, potentially worth $9 billion, was awarded to Lockheed Martin and seven other prime contractors last September.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and had 2004 revenue of $35.5 billion. It ranks No. 1 on Washington Technology's 2005 Top 100 list of prime federal contractors.