Lockheed Martin will launch the first Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite into space aboard an Atlas V rocket, reports Reuters news service. Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, head of Space and Missile Systems Center, told Reuters Tuesday that a deal had been struck. He would not elaborate. Lockheed also is under contract to provide three AEHF satellites, the first of which is expected to launch in April 2008. Still to play out are the launch arrangements under the now-approved United Launch Alliance, an amalgam of Lockheed and Boeing to provide launch services.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
