Air Force re-ups Lockheed Martin for virtual training

Lockheed Martin Corp. won a contract modification, worth almost $26 million, from the Air Force to continue furnishing technological and simulation support for its virtual combat training facility until 2009.

The Bethesda, Md., defense contractor will provide technical integration, network management, and software and database development for the Distributed Mission Operations Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

As part of its work, the company also will furnish advanced simulation to improve air and space warfare systems and concepts of operational training. Lockheed Martin also will perform test and evaluation services, range integration and decision support analysis.

The Distributed Mission Operations Center lets soldiers experience simulated networked warfare and evaluates tactics, weapons and technology. It links the Air Force's data and combat assets with those of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps to provide joint training opportunities.

The center's war-gaming infrastructure includes representations of more than 200 computers, 20 local area networks and 24 wide area networks that are combined for a battlespace with 19 different weapons systems and command, control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.

Lockheed Martin, which has about 140,000 employees and had annual revenue of $37.2 billion in 2005, ranks No. 1 on Washington Technology's 2006 Top 100 list the largest federal IT contractors.