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.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
