Industry team upgrades major component of Ballistic Missile Defense System

An industry team led by Lockheed Martin recently completed upgrades to the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS).

The C2BMC network connects traditionally separate space, sea and terrestrial sensors and their associated systems to improve target data and increase the probability of intercepting ballistic missile threats. Operationally fielded in 2004, C2BMC is deployed at multiple locations throughout the world.

The team developed, tested and deployed track processing, sensor and battle management algorithms to improve how C2BMC processes data from BMDS elements, enabling the system to handle larger and more complex threats.

The Lockheed Martin-led team includes Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Boeing, and General Dynamics.

C2BMC uses a new open, flexible architecture that supports the integration of new capabilities. It also increases system reliability, reduces the overall hardware footprint, lowers total system life cycle costs and mitigates cyber threats to the network and systems.

“Truly integrated ballistic missile defense can never be static,” said Dr. Rob Smith, vice president of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Systems for Lockheed Martin. “C2BMC must maintain pace and be flexible to changes in technology, capability improvements, and adversarial conditions.”