Free Republic

The Navy's future success depends on acquiring flexible and affordable weapons systems that can quickly switch missions depending on the threat, said Admiral Gary Roughead, the Navy's chief officer. Affordability and flexibility are critical given that the demand for the Navy's services has increased at a time when it also must cut costs, he said. This means controlling the urge to add new "bells or whistles" to existing programs, increasing the efficiency of maintaining ships and keeping the new F-35 fighter jet program on schedule, according to a Reuters article. "The stuff that we buy is going to be around...

Lockheed Martin missile defense systems achieved several key milestones in 2009, including five successful intercepts and numerous other major accomplishments, further solidifying Lockheed Martin as a world leader in air and missile defense. With 20 successful Aegis BMD intercepts, six successful Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) intercepts and 26 successful Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile intercepts since the inception of those programs, Lockheed Martin continues to build on its unmatched legacy as the pioneer of hit-to-kill technologies. "Lockheed Martin is proud to continue to lead ballistic missile defense efforts for the United States and allied nations," said John Holly,...

The second generation of Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, BMD 4.0.1, successfully detected, tracked and conducted simulated engagements against a variety of different ballistic missile targets during a series of tracking exercises in the Pacific. The key feature of the new system is a new integrated signal processor designed to improve the system’s discrimination capability to defeat sophisticated ballistic missiles and their countermeasures. During a series of four tests, the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie – upgraded with the BMD 4.0.1 Weapon System – successfully detected, tracked and guided simulated Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block...