Breaking Defense
GEOINT 2025 — The Space Force is moving to finally put in place the long-troubled next-generation ground system for its missile warning constellations — with service officials now predicting the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) command and control (C2) system to be fully functioning in 2028.
Space Systems Command (SSC) in recent weeks has issued a flurry of contracts for the key hardware and software “thrusts” that make up the FORGE program, following a restructuring in 2023 that broke the effort into more manageable pieces.
“The modular nature of FORGE allows us to constantly improve and adapt to the needs of the operators and bring in added capabilities or sensors,” Lt. Col. Dan Groller, SSC’s FORGE materiel leader, told Breaking Defense on May 16.
The most recent award, announced on May 16, was a contract for the development/delivery of “Relay Ground Stations” to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Corporation, and Peraton. The Other Transaction Authority contract vehicle has a total ceiling of $244.2 million for a five-year performance period.
