Lockheed Martin Australia and Leidos Australia have signed an Association Agreement to design, develop and build advanced secure technologies to support the transformation of the Royal Australian Air Force into a next generation force as part of the Joint Air Battle Management Systems project ( Air 6500-1).

Lockheed Martin Australia, one of the two principals selected to participate in the final competitive phase of the Air 6500 Phase 1 project, will work with Leidos Australia to develop capabilities that can be integrated into an open architecture framework to support the development of applications for Air 6500- 1.

The partnership agreement will allow the two companies to study transformative software factory technologies. These innovations will be enhanced by secure coding, advanced cybersecurity infrastructure, automated monitoring, continuous deployment, network optimization, testing, and more. This work will support Lockheed Martin Australia’s Open Systems Architecture program solution for Air 6500-1 to meet the emerging and future operational needs of the Australian Defense Force (ADF).

Air 6500-1 will provide the ADF with a joint air combat management system which will constitute the architecture at the heart of the future integrated air defense and anti-missile capability of the ADF. This will provide better situational awareness and defense against increasingly advanced air and ballistic threats, and give the ADF increased levels of interoperability with coalition partners.

“Lockheed Martin Australia is very proud to team up with Leidos Australia,” said Steve Froelich, Lockheed Martin Australia Air 6500 program manager.

“For more than 70 years, Lockheed Martin Australia has provided and maintained cutting-edge technologies and solutions to help protect Australia’s interests in all areas in partnership with ADF and Australian industry.

“We are delighted to leverage these partnerships by partnering with Leidos Australia to combine our next generation technological expertise with the bespoke information technology services of Leidos Australia to deliver a revolutionary Air 6500-1 capability that will ensure that the ADF can quickly detect, deter and defend against evolving 21st century battlefield threats.

“We are very committed to integrating the best local technologies and the advanced capabilities of Leidos Australia help us achieve a truly sovereign solution for Australia, ensuring that Australian industry remains at the heart of the design of future management capability. air combat forces of the country, ”Froelich mentioned.

“We are proud to bring over 25 years of local integration experience in the country to Lockheed’s Air 6500 team,” said Paul Chase, Managing Director of Leidos Australia.

“This is a unique opportunity for Leidos, Lockheed Martin Australia and our industry partners to work with the ADF to transform Australia’s future joint air combat management capabilities from scratch,” added Chase. .