Lockheed showcases battle management system

Defence industry professionals, members of the media, and government representatives were shown a virtual demonstration of the integrated air and missile defence (IAMD) system on 28 February.

The multi-layered system aims to make the detection and destruction of surprise military threats a simpler process by using the IAMD system to allocate missile defence resources.

Lockheed Martin AIR 6500 capture manager Stefan Krause said the system displayed four different defence or attack scenarios.

“It really highlights having a new space layer, air layer, land, and maritime — all integrated together through a joint air battle management system,” he said.

“It brings in all of that data and it connects the sensor and shooter processes.

“(For example if) you have a UAV coming in, ground based radar is detecting that threat and the threats are being automatically identified using electronic support sensors. And then it (IAMD) will make a recommendation to an operator of what shooter do you use to engage.”

The system is able to prioritise targets and weapons by connecting aircraft such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, warships, missile defence batteries, radar detection sites, and other units in an area. The system was able to counter UAV and ballistic missiles in four virtual scenarios shown at the expo.

“At the lower priority threat end, it’s using a laser weapon to do the engagement, which lets you save kinetic weapons for complex threats,” he said.

“Things that may have been done manually in the past now have more machine-to-machine connectivity, they’ll be able to make decisions more quickly and with system-recommended options for the operator to use to make decisions.

“The joint nature of the system, obviously, is intended to connect platforms across the ADF integration. However, it’s also intended to be able to connect to regional allies, including US–Indonesia, and any other key allies within the Indo-Pacific region.”