The Lockheed Martin Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) platform was a reconnaissance aircraft airframe project for the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

(US Army) and United States Navy (US Navy). The aircraft would have been able to detect troop movements, intercept enemy

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

transmissions, and communicate with other aircraft. It would have had

synthetic aperture radar Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes. SAR uses the motion of the radar antenna over a target region to provide fine ...

electro-optical Electro–optics is a branch of electrical engineering, electronic engineering, materials science, and material physics involving components, electronic devices such as lasers, laser diodes, LEDs, waveguides, etc. which operate by the propag ...

and

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

detection instrumentation. The program was cancelled on January 12, 2006. The Army intended to acquire 34 units, with a further 19 going to the Navy. The initial contract, awarded on August 3, 2004, was valued at $79 million, but total contract value through 2010 would have been $879 million. Beyond that, the total program cost was to reach $7 billion, with only 20–30% going to the platform vendor. The ACS would have replaced three existing Army and Navy platforms—the de Havilland Canada RC-7 ARL, Beechcraft RC-12, Beechcraft RU-21 Guardrail, and Lockheed EP-3E Aries II. Testing was to begin in 2006, and full-rate production would have begun in 2009. While the US Army was fully committed, the US Navy did not and may instead opt for a modified version of the

P-8 Poseidon The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is an American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and derived from the civilian Boeing 737-800. It was developed for the United States Navy (USN). Th ...

. The Lockheed Martin entry beat a consortium of

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

and

Gulfstream Aerospace Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is an American aircraft company and a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics. Gulfstream designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and services business jet aircraft. Gulfstream has produced more than 2,000 ...

, using the

Gulfstream G450 The Gulfstream IV (or G-IV or GIV) and derivatives are a family of twinjet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. They were designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United States, ...

platform. The competing entry attempted to play up nationalist sympathies, and give the impression of a security risk by using a

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian airframe, provided by EMBRAER, using their more affordable, reliable, and cost effective (the latter two being questioned)

EMBRAER ERJ 145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

platform — Gulfstream's airframe did have longer range and could fly at higher altitudes but the acquisition and operational costs (main requirements of DoD for ACS platform) of ERJ 145 were considered much more attractive. Both electronics packages were equivalent and had no major influence in this decision. It was later decided that the ERJ 145 would not suffice due to weight constraints,Lockheed, U.S. Army Eye Larger Plane for Spy Mission
"

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

, July 5, 2005. and thus, while Lockheed was to retain the

system integrator A systems integrator (or system integrator) is a person or company that specializes in bringing together component subsystems into a whole and ensuring that those subsystems function together, a practice known as system integration. They also sol ...

role, the Army attempted to re-bid platform entry among several larger aircraft. EMBRAER were to produce the first five airframes in Brazil (based upon the commercial ERJ 145), while final assembly on following units would have taken place in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, to satisfy

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

workshare requirements. Electronics integration will be conducted by Lockheed Martin at an unannounced site. Lockheed has faced criticism from the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

(DoD), and specifically, the US Army, for not being able to properly forecast weight issues with the system. The Army claimed in an August 11, 2005 article in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' that Lockheed could potentially lose the contract if they did not resolve the issue. ACS was cancelled on January 12, 2006.Army Terminates Aerial Common Sensor Development Contract
" GlobalSecurity.org, January 12, 2006. The Department of Defense paid a contract

termination fee {{About, fees for breaking terms of agreements or long-term contracts, Interconnect fees in (telephone) networks, Termination rates An early termination fee is a charge levied when a party wants to break the term of an agreement or long-term contra ...

of $200 million, nearly all of which was passed on to subcontractors such as

Argon ST Argon ST is a subsidiary of The Boeing Company headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, United States, that specializes in systems engineering and provides C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnais ...

, Harris Corporation, and

L-3 Communications L3 Technologies, formerly L-3 Communications Holdings, was an American company that supplied command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ( C3ISR) systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training d ...

. Most Lockheed Martin and Army personnel were reassigned to other projects."US Army: Cancelled Deal Brought Lockheed $200M, No Profit," ''

'', January 16, 2006. On November 2, 2006 the US Army revealed it has plans to revive the ACS program in 2009,U.S. Army Revives Planned Spy Plane
" MarketWatch, November 2, 2006. and conducted an Industry Day in mid-October. The Army continues to envision the ACS program as capable of meeting US Navy ISR needs for a replacement of the EP-3E Aries II. Boeing pitched a modified version of the Boeing P-8 Poseidon to fill the ACS role.Boeing unveils new 737 signals intelligence concept
" ''

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's old ...

'', January 26, 2006. The ACS project has since been superseded by

EMARSS The US Army is to modify a government-owned Quick Reaction Capability Liberty Project aircraft into an Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System - Multi-Intelligence (EMARSS-M) platform under a USD31.8 million contract it was ...

, based on a smaller aircraft.

References

{{Reflist

External links

*
Aerial Common Sensor (ACS)
" GlobalSecurity.org. 2000s United States military reconnaissance aircraft Synthetic aperture radar