Forward Thinking:
Multi-Domain Since Inception
Creating C2BMC, The Centerpiece of the U.S. Missile Defense System
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S., President George W. Bush issued a directive to increase the nation’s missile defense capability. Part of this directive included developing a Missile Defense System that layered defenses to “intercept missiles in all phases of their flight and against all ranges of threats."
“It is the policy of the United States to deploy as soon as is technologically possible an effective National Missile Defense system capable of defending the territory of the United States against limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate) with funding subject to the annual authorization of appropriations and the annual appropriation of funds for National Missile Defense.”
National Missile Defense Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-38)
At the heart of this layered missile defense would be a resilient, all‐domain system that would network space, air, land and sea sensors and weapon systems to enable the highest probability of defeating advancing threats. That system was then, and remains today, the backbone of American missile defense – the
Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system.
Presidential directive requested the layered missile defense capability be delivered in 2004 – less than two years from the initiating Presidential directive. To develop such an advanced system required a collaborative enterprise of the best and most experienced talent from the defense industry and United States government. In 2002, Lockheed Martin, given its extensive experience developing command and control systems for the United States Air Force, was selected to lead a collective team of Government and industry leaders.
Collaborating to Innovate
To meet the urgent timeframe, the team set up three different laboratories, co-located with warfighters, to enable concurrent spiral development of capabilities. This environment took down all the service walls and provided the C2BMC team with the environment and rapid acquisition decision authority to operationally field the integrating element of the U.S. Missile Defense System. In 2004, less than two years since development on the system began, C2BMC was declared operational.
