The Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., has tapped Lockheed Martin to continue its Mark IVB weather system, awarding the company a contract potentially worth $42 million over nine years, according to a Lockheed release. A company Web page defines the Mark IVB as a “meteorological data ingest, processing and dissemination system.” The system has been redesigned to collect data from all currently defined satellites and will be fully net-centric and machine-to-machine capable. It already supplies data to all coalition operations centers and Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps elements.
The Air Force displayed all the firepower it has amassed on Okinawa in an unusually diverse show of force this week. IIn a May 6 “Elephant Walk,” Kadena Air Base showcased 24 F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters, eight F-15E Strike Eagles; two U.S. Army Patriot anti-missile batteries near the runway; and…