PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy weapons experts needed a mission-planning system to help the BGM-109 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile with precise targeting. They found a solution from Peraton Technology Services Inc. in Chantilly, Va.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $17.5 million contract to Peraton last week for continued development and sustainment of the Theater Mission Planning Center (TMPC).
This system, a component of the Tomahawk Weapon System, handles Tomahawk mission planning for precision targeting, route planning, mission distribution, and strike management. It can handle conventional and nuclear Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The TMPC is deployed in carrier strike groups, and firing units on surface warships and submarines. It enables mission route planning, and distributes mission data to decrease planning time while increasing accuracy.
COTS hardware and software
The Navy TMPC relies on commercial and government off-the-shelf (COTS/GOTS) software and hardware for high-rate mission planning and fast mission planning, and interfaces with the Tomahawk Weapon Control System (TWCS) via Officer-in-Tactical-Command Information Exchange System (OTCIXS) and Tactical Data Information Exchange System-A (TADIXS-A) for command, control, and information exchange.
It supports terrain contour matching and digital scene matching area correlator map data necessary for Tomahawk missile navigation. Cyber security includes virtualization to enhance system security.
On this contract, Peraton will do the work in Santa Clara, Calif., and other locations, and should be finished by November 2026. For more information contact Peraton online at www.peraton.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
