The Lockheed Martin UK Platform Integration business, based at Ampthill in Bedfordshire, traces its origins from decades of UK platform integration programmes, particularly in weapons, vehicles and air defence.
This business is responsible for the integration of both in-house and third-party capabilities into legacy and future platforms. Particular emphasis is placed on close collaboration with other Primes and Team-mates to provide the customer with low-risk systems designed with flexibility, growth and interoperability at their core.
The Platform Integration team are at the forefront of Open System BMC4I and Generic Vehicle Architecture designs, and are working closely with partners and Government Authorities in defining open-architecture standards.
Armoured Fighting Vehicle Mission Module
Included in our portfolio is the Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) Mission Module, this is a modular turret system engineered from the ground up to be remotely operated, highly configurable and employ an open standards based architecture. The Mission Module draws on the learnings from the development of the AJAX and WCSP systems and delivers a high level of reliability engineered to meet the most rigorous performance standards.
This family of remotely operated modular reconfigurable turrets is able to perform a wide variety of missions in the multi-domain integration environment including :
- Infantry Fighting Vehicle
- Short Range Air Defence & Anti Drone
- Reconnaissance
- Anti-Tank Missile Platform
The System incorporates the Lockheed Martin Modular Mission System product, which is Generic Vehicle Architecture (Def Stan 23-009) compliant, enabling it to be easily configured to meet the needs of even the most demanding user.
Modular Mission System Software
The Modular Mission System (MMS) Software is a product developed by Lockheed Martin at Ampthill. MMS is essentially an architecture software system designed to be open, modular and scalable – from the outset MMS has been developed with reliability and resilience at the core of its design – making it an enabler within the multi-domain integration operational environment. MMS is the onboard architecture of a digital platform, whether that be a vehicle, jet, ship or even a soldier.
MMS was initially designed to support the land domain by closely aligning to the UK MODs Land Data Model (this is an open data model produced by Defence Equipment & Support– the purchasing arm of MOD, essentially it provides interfaces for a platform which can be one of a vehicle, base or even a soldier) - its architecture has now been extended to support platforms across all domains in the battlespace.
The Modular Mission System product was developed to realise the benefits of an open architecture approach to a land vehicle platform design. This has developed an in-house platform management software which integrates to form the Lockheed Martin Modular Mission System (MMS).
It is an open, modular, scalable architecture with reliability and resilience designed in from the outset.
The MMS including the Platform Software is Generic Vehicle Architecture (Def Stan 23-009) compliant from the ground up and is compliant to NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture (STANAG 4754). This key software shows how Lockheed Martin UK is leading the way on vehicle integration, delivering a battle management capability through its integration of Lockheed Martin’s SkyKeeper product.
MMS has been adopted as its battle manager to form the MOD’s Virtual Representative Vehicle, which is used to represent a GVA vehicle across MOD programmes as part of architecture alignment.
Built on Data Distribution Service (DDS) technology it easily integrates to other Generic Vehicle Architecture or NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture subsystems either directly via DDS or via its gateway technology – delivering a modern open architecture to any platform.
MMS can be used anywhere, across any domain and on any platform. Foreign language support has been included in the design so that it can be translated to any language. And its core technology allows it to prioritise key systems performance, ensuring maximum system availability and capability at all times.
MMS is scalable from:
- A quadbike to a main battle tank
- A single data collection node to running many crew stations
- Today’s video sensors to the 8K sensors of tomorrow
MMS is modular - its design allows it to be:
- Scaled to fit an immediate need then expanded as required
- Retrofitted to legacy vehicles with the use of its gateway technology
- Grown as new modules and technology become available, for example drone integration
MMS is built on an open architecture:
- It uses open standards (such as data distribution service, ethernet)
- It’s free from restrictions (not ITAR or Intellectual Property restricted)
- It creates interfaces that allow easier future upgrades – room for growth sits at the heart of its design
- MMS can be licensed for integration with host platforms
SkyKeeper - Battle Management Command and Control for the Digital Battlespace
SkyKeeper is a fully flexible and adaptable Battle Management Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence solution for the digital battlespace. The Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill developed product delivers real time Command and Control data exchange, Threat Engagement and Weapon Assignment, and full interoperability with Allies for missions that include:
- Ground Based Air Defence
- Counter - Unmanned Aerial Systems
- Counter Rockets, Artillery and Mortars
- Joint Effects, Air Land Integration and wider Multi Domain Integration/Operations.
Click here to learn more about SkyKeeper.
MOBIUS
We are part of Team MOBIUS and together with our team (Jacobs, Atos, BMT and MKC Training) are developing an innovative and efficient Systems Integrator (SI) and Strategic Delivery Partner (SDP) service solution for the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) Land Environment Tactical Communications and Information Systems (LE TacCIS) portfolio.
Team MOBIUS has an extensive set of programmatic and technical engineering attributes that will deliver an enhanced SI and SDP service for MORPHEUS, a LE TacCIS sub-programme which requires a Future Operating Model (FOM). It will also deliver supply chain management and operational service management.
