USAF awarded Lockheed Martin a $589 million contract to be the weapons systems integrator to “standardize, modernize, sustain, and transform” the Air Force’s 20 worldwide Air and Space Operations Centers. Lockheed must turn the AOC’s 48 discrete systems into one integrated enterprise by August 2010, according to a company press release.
The Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile's second stage rocket performed largely as predicted by digital models in a recent vacuum chamber test, the Air Force and Northrop Grumman said, laying the groundwork for further testing that will allow the company to finalize the stage’s design in the coming months.