Lockheed Martin Awarded $23 Million B-2 Bomber Satellite Communication System Upgrade Contract

Owego, NY.- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has received a $23 million contract from Northrop Grumman to support the upgrade of satellite communication (SATCOM) systems used by U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber. As part of the program’s system development and demonstration phase, Lockheed Martin will replace the B-2’s current flight management computers with a new subsystem.

“The enhanced performance of our product will enable the B-2 aircraft to send and receive information at a much faster pace, supporting the needs of today’s warfighter,” said Dan Rice, director of Products at Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Owego.

Lockheed Martin’s subsystem combines legacy B-2 avionics functions with additional processing capabilities to support the aircraft’s Extremely High Frequency (EHF) SATCOM system. The EHF SATCOM provides the bomber’s aircrew with a beyond-line-of-sight, assured-connectivity capability that ensures the B-2 is compatible with current and future EHF communication satellite architectures.

This SATCOM upgrade program will also allow the B-2 to connect easily to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Global Information Grid (GIG), a worldwide network of information systems, processes and personnel involved in collecting, storing, managing and disseminating information on demand to warfighters, policy makers and military support personnel.

Lockheed Martin has supported the B-2 program in various capacities for more than 20 years, and is the sole-source supplier of the aircraft’s AN/APR-50 Defensive Management System. Lockheed Martin has also supplied the bomber with Single Board Computers and Graphics Display module used in the B-2 Center Instrument Display Set.