Lockheed Martin awarded $160 million for continued support of US Navy land-based Aegis test facility

The US Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $160 million follow-on contract for technical and engineering support of its land-based test facility for the Aegis Ballistic Defense (BMD) Weapon System.

Known locally as the "the Cruiser in the Cornfield" for its ship-like exterior appearance, the Navy's Vice Admiral James H. Doyle Combat Systems Engineering Development Site (CSEDS) develops, integrates and delivers sophisticated computer software that allows the Aegis Weapon System to constantly evolve to meet the world's emerging threats. CSEDS incorporates highly-integrated, classified, real-time networks that connect numerous contractor and US government facilities.

In addition to ongoing support for CSEDS, the new contract calls for Lockheed Martin to support, operate and maintain the Naval Systems Computing Center (NSCC) and the SPY-1A naval radar test suite located near CSEDS. The NSCC and SPY-1A test suite provide critical capability for early computer program development and element testing, prior to system level integration and test at CSEDS.

Formally commissioned as a Navy facility in May 1977, CSEDS garnered national attention in 2008 for the role it played leading up to the Aegis BMD Weapon System's successful interception of an errant satellite. The Navy staff at CSEDS, working alongside Lockheed Martin engineers, tested modifications to Aegis before the modifications were installed on the ships in the Pacific for the mission. The real-time collaboration between engineers and sailors with the land-based Aegis system was a critical factor in meeting the timeline for the mission.

Source: Lockheed Martin