<i>Lockheed Submits JCM Final Proposal Revision
(Source: Lockheed Martin; issued Feb. 24, 2004)
ORLANDO, Fla. --- Lockheed Martin submitted its final proposal revision to the U.S. Army for a new air-to-ground Joint Common Missile (JCM) for deployment aboard U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft. The final submittal included updates based on recent milestones achieved in an extensive company-funded Risk Reduction initiative.
Lockheed Martin is competing for the right to build the next-generation, multi-purpose, air-to-ground precision missile that will replace the Hellfire, Longbow and Maverick air-to-ground missiles currently in the U.S. arsenal. The estimated long-term business value of the contract to supply approximately 54,000 missiles to the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corp is approximately $5 billion.
“The Lockheed Martin JCM builds on an unmatched foundation of precision air-to-ground, combat-proven performance, integrating the latest technology in every subsystem to give war fighters the expanded operational flexibility and combat effectiveness with a versatile, low-cost missile,” said Rick Edwards, director of Tactical Missiles for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
According to Edwards, the Lockheed Martin JCM team has bid the best solution for the war fighter.
“The Lockheed Martin Joint Common missile does everything that Longbow and Hellfire can do and a lot more,” Edwards stated. “We have assembled a world- class team of suppliers who bring cutting-edge technology to every subsystem. They share our commitment to deliver a product that meets the requirements -- on time and on budget. The Lockheed Martin JCM team combines the experience, technology and the up-front focus to deliver the lowest acquisition and life- cycle cost.”
“We have substantially mitigated the risk involved in these cutting-edge technologies in an aggressive and well-disciplined series of company-funded risk reduction tests, which are still ongoing, that have been underway since before the initial proposal was submitted back in November,” Edwards added.
Describing the tests conducted thus far, Lockheed Martin JCM program director Steve Barnoske stated, “We have conducted successful risk reduction tests on every critical subsystem of the missile, particularly the multi-mode seeker and the guidance, the warhead assembly and the motor. We have stated we can provide the lowest-risk solution to the customer, and that is exactly what we are doing.”
“Our multimode seeker has been extensively tested, from towers, in captive-flight and against littoral targets,” Barnoske stated. “We have validated all three modes -- semi-active laser, millimeter wave, and imaging infrared -- and we have updated our high-fidelity system simulation and submitted it to the government along with our final proposal revision. We’re not finished testing our software, of course, but our simulations already contain more than 80,000 lines of tactical code, and we’ve proven they work.”
“On the warhead assembly, we conducted a successful test of the fuze delay from a howitzer in November 2003, then in January 2004 we conducted successful warhead penetration tests against tactical brick-over-block targets at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL,” Barnoske continued. “By demonstrating the detonation of the precursor, penetration of the wall, and correct operation of the fuze to ensure the main warhead is at the right place at the right time to incapacitate the target, we substantially mitigated risk on the subsystem that the customer has identified as the most significant overall risk for JCM.”
“Our teammates at Roxel-UK and Aerojet have conducted successful subsystem tests of composite motor cases, propellant, and motor-level environmental tests that demonstrated full functionality over the temperature extremes of the fixed-wing environment,” Barnoske added. “This enables us to offer a high- confidence single-motor solution that significantly reduces development cost by eliminating the need to qualify two motor configurations. It also provides a critical advantage to the Navy in shipboard operations by avoiding the need to inventory two different missiles to equip its rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft.”
“Finally, we have substantially mitigated risk involved with platform integration, which is a key consideration in streamlining JCM’s entry in the Army’s and Navy’s arsenals,” Barnoske said. “In conjunction with the Navy’s F/A-18 Advanced Weapons Laboratory in China Lake, CA, we and our supplier for the JCM fixed-wing launcher, EDO Corporation, recently completed a successful series of launcher and JCM integration tests which demonstrated that our JCM system can interface with the F/A-18E/F and F/A-18C/D platforms.”
“On the rotary-wing side, the experience we have gained as prime contractor of the M299 and the performance our launcher has already demonstrated on multiple platforms provides the lowest-risk integration path for JCM,” he concluded. “The M299 provides interoperability with Hellfire II and Longbow, allowing JCM to be seamlessly integrated into the arsenal.”
Lockheed Martin announced in January that if it is awarded the JCM contract, the new missile will be produced at the Lockheed Martin Pike County Operations facility in Troy, AL. Pike County Operations is the company’s award-winning, high-technology, multi-missile manufacturing facility. Major subcontracts will bring work to several other regions of the country as well as the United Kingdom.
“Our motor is provided by Aerojet in Sacramento, CA, and the propellant is from Roxel, located in the United Kingdom,” Edwards explained. “The warhead is produced by General Dynamics in Florida, the firing module is produced by PerkinElmer in Ohio, and our control actuator section is furnished by Moog, in Salt Lake City, UT.
“Lockheed Martin integrates the sensors and guidance package, because we are the only contractor who has actually fielded missile sensors in all three modes. We have lined up the best in the business to help us perfect this critical subsystem; Remec in San Diego, CA, on the millimeter wave seeker, and EMS in Atlanta, GA, for the RF electronics and the antenna. CMC Electronics in Cincinnati, OH, produces the focal plane array for the imaging infrared seeker. Honeywell in Minneapolis, MN, produces the inertial measurement unit. Mercury Computers in Massachusetts produces the signal processing electronics. EDO in Pennsylvania brings fixed-wing launcher expertise to help us achieve a low-risk integration of JCM onto the fixed-wing platform.
“Lockheed Martin already produces the M299 launcher that will carry JCM on all of the required rotary-wing platforms, with Marvin Engineering in California building the structure and Lockheed Martin supplying the launcher electronics and software.” </i>
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