Lockheed Martin was selected by the FCS team to develop the Centralized Controller to provide a single, hand-held device to be used by warfighters of the FCS ‘Unit of Action’ (UA), allowing them to operate and control various unmanned systems. The controller will provide access to over 750 remotely controlled assets within each brigade at any particular time. The potential value of the Centralized Controller contract, which will be finalized shortly and will run through 2014, is in excess of $35 million.
The elements to be controlled by the new device include the Class I unmanned aerial vehicles and their sensor payloads; unmanned ground vehicles and their sensor and weapon payloads; unattended ground sensors; manned ground vehicle functions. The controller will also enable superior situational awareness, training, logistics and medical functions. The controller will consolidate the functions provided by numerous disparate controllers, into a single controller, reducing soldier’s load and improving usability.
