Lockheed's 'Dragon Shield' for Finland achieves operational capability

Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The "Dragon Shield" airborne surveillance system built for the Finnish Defense Forces has achieved its final operational capability.

Lockheed Martin, who manufactures the Roll-on/Roll-off integrated intelligence system, said Friday that the milestone was achieved after the final flight test of the system.

Specifically, Lockheed Martin said an evaluation of the system complied with both civilian and military "airworthiness" regulations.

"Working in unison with our customer, we provided an innovative system that fullfills their dynamic requirements," Dr. Rob Smith, vice president of C4ISR Systems for Lockheed Martin, said in a press release.

"We worked with Finnish industry to maximize industry participation to ensure that the system can be maintained in-country," Smith said.

The system is built for use in military transport aircraft, such as the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

The Dragon Shield system provides larger cargo aircraft with the ability to collect electronic intelligence, communications or signals intelligence capabilities in order to enhance situational awareness for the aircrew and provide command and control nodes with better imagery intelligence.

For the Finnish Defense Forces, Lockheed Martin modified an Airbus CASA C-295 cargo aircraft in order to integrate the Dragon Shield system.

The Finnish Defense Forces also received ground stations and communication terminals that support the capabilities of the airborne systems, Lockheed Martin said.