Lockheed Martin starts Navy combat-system update cycle with first ICS baseline

Lockheed Martin said on May 28 that it delivered the first Integrated Combat System-enabled baseline to the U.S. Navy, describing the handoff as the start of a new six-month update and certification cadence for the surface fleet. In the company’s telling, this is less a single product drop than the opening move in a recurring software and systems-refresh process meant to spread new capability across multiple ship classes.

The company says ICS-enabled baselines combine older combat-system capabilities with modern infrastructure so upgrades can be developed once and proliferated at scale. Lockheed says the goal is fleetwide commonality: a common combat architecture that can be refreshed on a predictable schedule across destroyers, cruisers, frigates, carriers and amphibious ships.

Lockheed identified the delivered package as BL9.C3.0. It said the baseline was compiled from the Forge development environment and brings a re-architected display component, a Tactical PaaS layer and a set of new operational capabilities. The release does not say which ships received the baseline first, or when the Navy will declare the package fully operational across the fleet.

Chandra Marshall, vice president of Multi-Domain Combat Systems, framed the delivery as part of a transition toward a common, fully integrated combat architecture in what the company called a continuously evolving warfighting environment. She also said each baseline upgrade reinforces and expands Aegis integrated air and missile defense capability, linking the new ICS cadence to one of Lockheed’s most durable naval franchises.

That Aegis franchise remains central to Lockheed’s naval business. On its product page, the company describes Aegis as the U.S. Navy’s and six international allies’ surface combat system and says it is the world’s most capable multi-mission combat system, built around integrated air and missile defense. Lockheed also says it has more than five decades of experience providing Aegis to the Navy and allied fleets.

The May 28 announcement also fits a broader modernization campaign that Lockheed has been describing for several years. When the Navy selected the company in 2023 to serve as its Integrated Combat System Systems Engineering and Software Integration agent, Lockheed said the role was meant to help deliver real-time software updates across the surface fleet using digital thread tools, AI, DevSecOps and model-based engineering.

The business backdrop is large and still expanding. Lockheed reported 2025 sales of $75.0 billion and a year-end backlog of $194 billion, both records for the company. In that same report, Rotary and Mission Systems - the segment that houses much of the company’s naval electronics and combat-systems work - generated $17.3 billion in 2025 sales.

Lockheed also said fourth-quarter sales in Rotary and Mission Systems rose on higher volume in integrated warfare systems and sensors, including radar programs and the River Class Destroyer program. That matters because the ICS release is not arriving in isolation; it lands inside a segment that is already seeing demand tied to naval sensors, combat systems and related shipboard integration work.

In April, the company said the U.S. government had awarded it a contract to develop, integrate and test PAC-3 MSE inside the Aegis Combat System for the first time. Lockheed presented that work as another layer in ship-based integrated air and missile defense, which suggests the May 28 baseline delivery is part of a wider effort to keep Aegis and ICS absorbing new sensors and interceptors as threats evolve.

For the Navy, the appeal is a faster release cycle without giving up the combat architecture already in service. For Lockheed, the significance is that the company is trying to turn one longstanding platform into a repeatable software-led update engine. The release leaves several open questions, including which ships will receive follow-on baselines first, how quickly the six-month cadence will translate into fleetwide adoption, and whether the Navy will disclose more about the rollout.