Article Posted on : - Jun 10, 2015

Medium Extended Air Defence System (MEADS). Photo: Lockheed Martin

ORLANDO, FlORIDA (BNS): The German Federal Ministry of Defence has chosen the Medium Extended Air Defence System (MEADS) as the basis for Taktisches Luftverteidigungssystem (TLVS), a next-generation network-based tactical air and missile defence system.

It will replace Patriot air defence systems initially fielded in the 1980s.

Lockheed Martin will share in development of Germany's TLVS with its MEADS International partner MBDA Deutschland, the Company said in a statement.

"Lockheed Martin is fully committed to the success of TLVS," said Rick Edwards, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "It reflects our continuing commitment to international partnerships and ongoing support for the German government's leadership role in European missile defence."

MEADS has been developed through MEADS International, a cooperative venture between MBDA and Lockheed Martin.

"With this decision in favour of MEADS, Germany has opted for a powerful, state-of-the-art, long term ground-based air and missile defence system sufficient to meet the threats both of today and of the future," said Thomas Homberg, managing director of MBDA Deutschland. "It is now our shared responsibility, together with the armed forces, to provide a solid basis for the introduction of the system."

In 2013, at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, MEADS became the first air and missile defence system to demonstrate a dual intercept of targets attacking simultaneously from opposite directions.

MEADS is designed to significantly reduce operation and support costs by covering a larger area with less manpower and equipment, and less demand on airlift. Once in theatre, MEADS elements emplace more quickly and can be repositioned without shutting the system down.