Military users from the Army, Air Force and Navy will be one step closer to realizing secure Internet Protocol based networking as the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) team begins integration activities of its Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System (AMF JTRS) with the AH-64D Longbow Apache helicopter. This marks the first time an aircraft program begins work on AMF JTRS software defined radio interfaces.

AMF JTRS is an NSA certifiable Type 1 encrypted, Internet Protocol communications network that will connect U.S. Navy, Army and Air Force platforms, enabling joint warfighters to share real-time voice, video and data communications.

“These early integration activities onto the Apache Longbow platform demonstrate the maturity of the AMF JTRS program,” said Mark Norris, vice president for Join Tactical Network Solutions with Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Solutions-Defense. “This is a key step in our risk reduction strategy and clears the path for on schedule delivery of the first Engineering Development Model to the Government in January 2011.”

Working closely with the Boeing Company in Mesa, Arizona and the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate at Fort Eustis, Virginia, the Lockheed Martin team will continue AMF JTRS integration and testing for the AH-64D. All efforts are in support of upcoming functional test flights and live fly demonstrations of the Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW). Functional test flights will demonstrate increased bandwidth, increased speed of situational awareness data, and immediate information access from airborne platform sensors to ground based units, supporting distributed video, imagery, and data amongst forward edge combatants.

The Lockheed Martin AMF JTRS team includes BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon.