Today’s commanders don’t have the luxury to wait for critical mission information. They need access to trustworthy data instantaneously. 

When intelligence reports signal a threat, every subsequent decision becomes vital. Every moment spent questioning and deciphering information gives the opponent more time to act. The challenge is no longer accessing mission data, it is determining whether the data can be trusted and used to inform a decisive response. The future battlespace will belong to the force that can transform secure information into a decisive edge faster than its adversary.

But decision advantage isn’t created by one platform, it is engineered across integrated capabilities. From the geosynchronous orbit (GEO) down to ground systems, Lockheed Martin is engineering decision advantage across the mission.

Every decision begins with a clear understanding of the operational scenario. In missile defense, that starts with persistent, trusted awareness. 

The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) has served as the backbone of U.S. space-based missile warning and tracking for years. Providing persistent coverage for our nation, SBIRS demonstrates Lockheed Martin’s deep technical experience in missile warning and tracking systems. 

The company has taken that expertise a step further with Next-Generation OPIR GEO (NGG). Designed for the next generation of threats including hypersonic weapons, NGG will enhance the sensing capabilities and resiliency of OPIR satellites. Built on the LM2100 Combat Bus^TM, NGG was engineered for advanced survivability against emerging threats, delivering trusted awareness where it is needed most. 

These systems deliver critical information advantage that allows our nation to see beyond today’s threats. 

Information only creates advantage when it moves rapidly, securely and seamlessly across the force. Lockheed Martin’s Transport Layer satellites, built on the LM50 bus, are designed to do just that. 

By instantaneously delivering secure, resilient, low-latency communications that rapidly distribute data from the tracking layer across the force, Lockheed Martin’s Transport Layer satellites are helping to move trusted information between sensors, operators and mission systems at operational speed. 

But resilient architectures are not built in a single orbit. 

To strengthen resilience and maintain custody of increasingly advanced missile threats, the U.S. Space Force is fielding a Resilient Missile Warning/Missile Tracking layer in MEO. Introduced incrementally through successive Epochs, the emerging architecture is designed to complement missile warning capabilities in GEO and tracking capabilities in LEO, creating greater persistence and redundancy across orbital regimes. 

Lockheed Martin is competing for the Epoch 2 contract, reinforcing its commitment to supporting the evolution of the nation’s missile warning, tracking and defense architecture.

Rather than focusing on a single orbit, the company is developing capabilities that enable proliferated architectures across layers. 

Every link between detection and action must be designed to strengthen the next. 

From persistent awareness in GEO to proliferated sensing and transport in LEO and the growing resilience offered by future MEO capabilities, each layer contributes unique strengths. Together, they form a resilient architecture designed to detect threats early, deliver trusted information, accelerate decision-making and support coordinated action across the long-range kill chain. 

Lockheed Martin rendering of a JADO scenario:

As a full-spectrum mission systems integrator, Lockheed Martin’s portfolio reflects a systems level approach to engineering a missile warning, tracking and defense architecture. 

As decision timelines continue to compress, the objective is clear: build architectures that move information, strengthen resilience and enable faster action. Viewed independently, each capability strengthens the mission. Engineered together, they create something greater: decision advantage. That’s the architecture that Lockheed Martin is building today.