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Lockheed Martin and the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) have successfully executed the digital All Up Round (AUR) Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI).
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The Next Generation Interceptor is a central component of the Missile Defense Agency’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system and will provide a new, advanced interceptor to protect the homeland against long-range ballistic missile threats from rogue nations.
Sarah Hiza, vice-president and general manager of strategic and missile Defense at Lockheed Martin, said, “I am proud of our team’s commitment to innovating with urgency to achieve expectations for this phase of the program.”
During this review, the MDA assessed the NGI program’s readiness and maturity to continue into the detailed design phase, confirming that Lockheed Martin’s solution continues to meet requirements for the mission.
“With this additional confidence in our NGI design through a weeklong digital review with our MDA customer, we are on track to deliver the right solution to meet the needs of the nation,” Hiza added.
Lockheed Martin leveraged digital engineering and model-based engineering tools to conduct the PDR with a modern and transparent approach.
These tools ultimately drive affordability within the program, as the company progresses to deliver a capable, mature, and reliable interceptor to the MDA.
The program’s digital approach enables early and frequent hardware and software testing, anchoring the PDR with lab demonstrations of flight-like engineering hardware.
Some of these processes include validating the program’s approach to sensing threats and Lockheed Martin’s flight computer which successfully communicated to major NGI subsystems.
Lockheed Martin remains on track to deliver NGI on an accelerated schedule for the warfighter. The company’s NGI team will now move forward towards the Critical Design Review milestone in Q3 FY2025, continuing to evaluate opportunities to accelerate schedule.
During this next significant review, the MDA will assess when flight testing can begin. Lockheed Martin projects that the first NGI will be delivered to the customer as early as FY2027.
Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 116,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services.
