Breaking news
Lockheed Martin to upgrade USAF's SBIRS infrared surveillance and missile warning satellites.
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World Defense & Security Industry News - Lockheed Martin
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| Lockheed Martin to upgrade USAF's SBIRS infrared surveillance and missile warning satellites | |||
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The U.S. Air Force’s newest infrared surveillance and missile warning satellites will be based on Lockheed Martin’s modernized A2100 spacecraft, an update that improves system affordability and resiliency while also adding the flexibility to use future payloads. The fifth and sixth Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites will receive this advanced spacecraft technology at no additional cost to the existing fixed-price contract.
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 Artist’s rendering of the USAF's SBIRS GEO spacecraft |
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The SBIRS program is responsible for America’s early missile warning and infrared surveillance missions, which are crucial to global security.
The SBIRS architecture consists of hosted sensor payloads in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO), dedicated Geosynchronous Earth Orbiting (GEO) satellites, and the associated ground infrastructure to receive, process, and deliver the infrared information to key decision makers. The SBIRS team is led by the Remote Sensing Systems Directorate at the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. Lockheed Martin is the SBIRS prime contractor, with Northrop Grumman, as the payload integrator. Air Force Space Command operates the SBIRS system. In response to the US Department of Defense’s need for more affordable and resilient systems, the US Air Force and Lockheed Martin worked to add the A2100 bus update to the 2014 SBIRS block-buy contract, which already saved the Air Force more than $1 billion. The modernized A2100 adds further affordability by using common components, streamlined manufacturing and has a flexible design that reduces the cost to incorporate future, modernized sensor suites. “Through the leadership of the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, we have been working to address the Department of Defense’s Better Buying Power and Bending the Cost Curve initiatives to deliver more value per dollar on this vital national security system,” said David Sheridan, Lockheed Martin vice president and SBIRS program manager. “SBIRS has been providing outstanding global coverage for the Air Force, and migration to the modernized A2100 will help keep SBIRS ahead of America’s adversaries while dramatically reducing costs and cycle times.” The modernized A2100 builds on a flight-proven bus that is the foundation for more than 40 satellites in orbit today. Through an internally-funded, multi-year modernization effort, Lockheed Martin has enhanced the spacecraft’s power, propulsion and electronics, while also adopting the latest advanced manufacturing techniques to decrease production costs and timelines. |
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