Lockheed Martin Builds New Combat System Lab

Lockheed Martin Australia will open a submarine combat system laboratory in Mawson Lakes in November to support the company’s pursuit of the Royal Australian Navy’s Future Submarine project SEA 1000.

Construction at Mawson Lakes began on July 27, 2015 and is expected to open in November. An expanded second phase with a secure area is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2016.

Raydon Gates, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Australia & New Zealand said:

A submarine’s combat system is essentially the eyes, ears and sword of the boat. A submarine’s tactical effectiveness depends on a fully integrated suite of the best technologies from Australia and around the world. The ability to seamlessly integrate the best sensors, sonar, radar, navigation, imagery systems and weapons will give Australia’s future submarine the tactical advantage it needs– and that is what Lockheed Martin Australia will deliver.

The laboratory includes a reconfigurable submarine command center to test and validate the Royal Australian Navy’s concept of operations in a simulated operational environment. The lab will feature advanced computer processing with reconfigurable hardware.

Establishing a submarine combat system laboratory in parallel with early stages of submarine design leverages a key lesson learned from the success of the U.S Navy’s Virginia class submarine program.

The laboratory capitalizes on Lockheed Martin’s heritage of more than 40 years of demonstrated submarine combat systems integration methodology on submarines for more than seven nations. Gates added that the lab would provide Lockheed Martin with the ability to be involved in every step of the process, reduce development costs and ensure continued interoperability.

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Image: Lockheed Martin