Lockheed wins Future Combat Systems subcontract

Lockheed Martin Corp. has won a subcontract from Science Applications International Corp. to manufacture a centralized controller that will be used for the Army's Future Combat Systems Class I vehicles.

Under the subcontract, Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Md., will design and develop the Future Combat Systems Centralized Controller Device for unmanned air and ground vehicles. The contract may be worth more than $35 million over seven years.

Lockheed Martin's team includes iRobot Corp. of Burlington, Mass., and Honeywell International Inc. of Morris Township, N.J.

The device under development will consolidate numerous disparate controllers into a single integrated system, thus simplifying logistics and empowering the soldier, Lockheed Martin said.

Specifically, the device will control unmanned aerial vehicles, the multifunction utility/logistics and equipment vehicle and the small unmanned ground vehicle. It also will control unattended ground sensors and ground vehicle functions and their respective payloads.

The device will enable soldiers to control nearly 750 systems per brigade.

Future Combat Systems is the Army's modernization program. It consists of a family of manned and unmanned vehicles connected by a common network.

Lockheed Martin has more than 140,000 employees and had annual sales of $39.6 billion in 2006. The company ranks No. 1 on Washington Technology's 2006 Top 100 list of the largest federal IT contractors. The 2007 Top 100 list is due out May 14.