Lockheed Martin today opened a $16.5 million Missile System Integration Lab (MSIL) at its Huntsville, Ala., campus, where the aerospace and defense company plans to develop and test a Next Generation Interceptor (NGI), a long-range ballistic missile interceptor.
In 2021, the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) awarded contracts totaling $1.6 billion to Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for the development of the NGI, encouraging competition between the companies. As part of MDA’s missile defense system, NGI is designed to protect against intercontinental ballistic missile attack.
Lockheed’s new MSIL will also house a digital engineering center and infrastructure to create a digital thread throughout the system integration process, the company says.
"Lockheed Martin is committed to North Alabama and this facility is further evidence of that," says Robert Lightfoot, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space. "We are pleased to celebrate adding an advanced facility to our Huntsville campus today—the same year we mark 60 years in the Rocket City supporting our customers."
The company is also planning to break ground this year on two more facilities in Courtland, Ala., which will add missile production space and a payload manufacturing center.
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