On October 5, Lockheed Martin announced that the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) approved its Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) program’s System Requirements Review (SRR) – six months after the initial development and demonstration contract award.

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NGI is a missile defense interceptor program designed to protect and defend the U.S. from intercontinental ballistic missiles. This program will serve as a first line of a layered missile defense architecture against evolving threats from rogue nations and is a national priority for the MDA and U.S. Northern Command. The first interceptor will be fielded ahead of the nation's need (Picture source: Lockheed Martin)

The MDA’s NGI program is designed to protect the United States from complex, rogue threat, ballistic missile attacks. The interceptor is an end-to-end design to detect, contain and destroy incoming threats. The SRR is a significant early program milestone, demonstrating that the company is ready to proceed with the initial system design.

“Our team has worked incredibly hard in partnership with our NGI customer team and is grateful for the opportunity to support the MDA in its mission to protect and defend the United States from intercontinental ballistic missile attacks,” said Sarah Reeves, vice president of the Next Generation Interceptor program at Lockheed Martin. “We’ve invested significantly to accelerate the program to meet this national priority with increased rigor in the systems engineering expected for a capability that is critical for our collective defense.”

The industry team used advanced digital engineering and model-based engineering tools for a modernized approach to the SRR, including new levels of interconnectivity. The digital tools used for the review are also used within the actual NGI program and align with the MDA’s pioneering digital engineering strategy to provide increased trust communications and transparency. This strategy will help the joint MDA and Lockheed Martin team make decisions faster, enhance security, increase affordability and integration.

The NGI will serve as a first line of a layered missile defense architecture against evolving threats from rogue nations and is critically important for the MDA and U.S. Northern Command. The first interceptor is forecasted to be fielded in 2027.