Lockheed Martin Modernizes Air Operations Capabilities for U.S. Marine Corps

The system that allows the U.S. Marines to coordinate flying operations for all air assets has been modernized by Lockheed Martin.

The Theater Battle Management Core System (TBMCS) within the U.S. Marine Corps Tactical Air Command Center was upgraded with the Marine Corps Air Mission Planner application to provide the Marines with a modernized mission planning application to better plan and execute aviation operations.

Developed by Lockheed Martin, TBMCS is the primary system for coordinating and executing the air campaign. It links the command and control systems for the United States Air Force, United States Navy, and United States Marine Corps, and integrates with ground systems for the Army systems, enabling coordinated, synchronized air battle management.

“Replacing 18 years of legacy applications was a challenge,” said Dr. Rob Smith, vice president of C4ISR for Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Solutions. “By collaborating with the Marines on a regular basis we provided a system with the functionality that met all their expectations.”

The TBMCS system integrates a full range of intelligence, targeting, and airspace deconfliction applications that support coordination of precision engagement fires, safe passage and near real-time warnings of threats. For the Marine Corps, Lockheed Martin updated the airborne command and control capabilities that produce air tasking orders that coordinate flying operations for fighters, cargo planes, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles. By replacing 1.5 million lines of legacy code with 500K lines of modernized code, the updated planner offers the USMC improved capabilities for planning, tasking, and coordinating their air operations.

In a joint development test consisting of Marines, Navy, Army and Air Force personnel, the Marine Corps Air Mission Planner was formally evaluated in March 2014 at the Ryan Center at Langley, AFB in Virginia. The planner successfully passed the most rigorous test environment that TBMCS had seen in several years.

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Press Release, June 12, 2014; Image: Lockheed Martin