The Air Force has tasked Lockheed Martin to upgrade the command and control system that joint commanders use to execute air operations in different regions of the world, announced the company on Tuesday. “These enhancements will provide users with faster access to real-time operations and intelligence data, as well as better planning and collaboration tools for enhanced situational awareness and decision-making,” said Jim Quinn, company command and control vice president, in Lockheed Martin’s April 16 release. For this work, the company received a $12 million contract, states the release. The work entails modernizing the air tasking order capabilities within the Theater Battle Management Core System, a component of the Air Force’s air operations centers that directs flying operations for airborne assets in a theater. The contract has a base period of performance through March 2015, followed by three one-year options. This work falls under the broader, five-year $249 million C2 development contract that the company has with the Air Force.
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.