Lockheed

Lockheed Martin's ADAM laser weapon wants to step up its game.

In a series of tests in March and April, the prototype directed-energy system destroyed eight small-caliber rocket targets in flight at a range of approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile), Lockheed said Wednesday. The defense contractor described the targets as "free-flying Qassam-like rockets," making reference to the simple but deadly projectiles developed by the military arm of the Palestinian group Hamas.

You can see a video of one of those test-firings below.

The 2013 tests follow a series of trials in 2012 when the ADAM (… Read more

Someday, somebody will bring an actual laser weapon to combat operations where it'll count. Until then, watch for more puttering about with the occasional field test of this or that prototype.

The latest manifestation of the eternal desire by the defense establishment for directed-energy weapons comes from Lockheed Martin, which yesterday brought word of its Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) system. ADAM's business end is a 10-kilowatt fiber laser that since August has been taking target practice against "representative" airborne threats.

The tally, it must be said, seems rather slight. Lockheed said that in the tests ADAM … Read more

Cyberattacks against Lockheed Martin -- one of the largest defense contractors for the U.S. government -- have stepped up significantly in both pace and savvy, according to Reuters.

"The number of campaigns has increased dramatically over the last several years," Lockheed vice president and chief information security officer Chandra McMahon said in a news conference today, according to Reuters. "The pace has picked up."

McMahon claims that roughly 20 percent of the attacks are being perpetuated by other countries or groups that aim to steal information or threaten the company's operations. She told reporters … Read more

The U.S. Air Force says it is it has identified the cause of potentially deadly oxygen deprivation problems experienced by pilots flying the F-22 Raptor fighter jet for years.

A faulty valve in pressure suits worn by pilots at high altitudes caused more than a dozen pilots since 2008 to experience dizziness, disorientation, and even blackouts, Pentagon spokesperson George Little told reporters today.

"I think we have very high confidence that we've identified the issues," Little said, according to an ABC News account of the news conference, before announcing the suspension of flight restrictions put in … Read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- The first space-bound Orion capsule, the centerpiece of NASA's post-shuttle push to break out of low Earth orbit for eventual manned flights to a variety of deep space targets, was officially unveiled at NASA's Florida spaceport today. The spacecraft will be outfitted for an unmanned test flight in 2014.

"As KSC celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, I can't think of a more appropriate way to celebrate than by having the very first Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle here at KSC," Robert Cabana, the center's director and a former shuttle … Read more

Last month, the European Space Agency abruptly declared its Earth observation satellite, Envisat, dead. After more than 10 years of successfully monitoring the planet's natural behaviors from space, the once valuable tool is now considered junk that could endanger active space assets for as much as 150 years.

Situations like this are what has led the U.S. Air Force and partners around the globe to move forward with the construction of a system designed to closely track as many as 200,000 piece of space debris. And now, the Air Force is considering which of two contractors' proposals … Read more

Lockheed Martin announced today it received millions of dollars to begin heading up the Pentagon's Cyber Crime Center. According to Reuters, the company won a $454 million contract from the government to help the military facility investigate the increasing number of cyber threats.

"Because of its size and importance, the [Department of Defense] is targeted by cyber criminals ranging from terrorists to spies to identity thieves," Lockheed told Reuters.

The security company's team of experts plans to assist the government in dealing with cyberattacks and crime by providing technical, functional, and managerial support to the center. … Read more

Earth's orbit is a very cluttered place. And that makes it dangerous.

The U.S. Air Force is looking to get a better handle on that clutter--from functioning satellites to abandoned rockets and shards of machinery--with something it calls the Space Fence. This isn't a barrier to keep the bric-a-brac at bay, but rather a radar-meets-catalog initiative to keep track of what's where.

Today, Lockheed Martin said it's taken a key step forward with its prototype of a ground-based radar system for the $3.5 billion Air Force Space Fence program: that prototype is now tracking … Read more

NASA indicated on Tuesday that it plans on moving forward with its deep space exploration goals by announcing plans for a 2014 unmanned flight test of its Orion spacecraft.

In a release, the U.S. space agency said that it would add the new flight test to its existing contract to build the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle (MPCV) with Lockheed Martin Space Systems. NASA said it expects to conduct the new test in early 2014.

According to NASA, the flight test will "fly two orbits to a high-apogee, with a high-energy re-entry through Earth's atmosphere. Orion will make … Read more