Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] recently delivered the TOPSCENE® Tactical Terrain Visualization System, a mission planning and rehearsal software package, to the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) in support of operations in Afghanistan.

U.K. helicopter forces based at RAF Odiham will use TOPSCENE® to perform mission rehearsal with greater realism than is possible with their existing system. TOPSCENE® also will enable greater interoperability with U.S. forces, which have been using TOPSCENE® for more than 20 years.

TOPSCENE® converts two-dimensional data from satellites and other sources into three-dimensional “fly through” and “walk through” battlefield visualisation scenarios.

“Using real-world images, Warfighters can plan and then repeatedly rehearse a mission, taking advantage of visually significant clues and aim points,” said John Metzger, senior program manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “By knowing exactly what the terrain and built-up areas will look like during the real mission, the chance of a successful mission is greatly increased.”

TOPSCENE®, with its embedded ability to stop, scale, slew and rotate the image, enables the Warfighter at all echelons to study their mission-operating environment in depth before actually entering a hostile area. The system provides photo-based imagery, 3-D terrain and culture, and sensor simulation, which provide a high-fidelity situational awareness in the tactical mission operating environment over large terrain databases.

“Currently there are more than 3,500 TOPSCENE® systems deployed worldwide,” said Will Shores, Business Development director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “TOPSCENE® has a highly responsive operational support system and we are very proud that the U.K. MoD has decided to use this outstanding product in support of their Warfighters in Afghanistan.”

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 136,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s 2009 sales from continuing operations were $44.5 billion.