singLM Exec Says N. Korea Missile Launches Tested Command-And-Control Gaps

North Korea's missile test launches last summer demonstrated the country's ability to attack the command-and-control "seams" of the United States and its allies, possibly exposing defense gaps in those networks, according to Ed Butt, director of the Missile Defense Systems Division of Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems & Solutions.

Those July 4 launches also accelerated Japan's interest and desire to buy U.S. missile defense components, Butt said during a Jan. 3 press conference. Meetings this month between American and Japanese officials should make it easier to conduct those transactions, he said.

Lockheed is developing a Command and Control Battle Management System (C2BMS) to integrate different defense systems in a way that would tighten any seams and close those gaps for the United States and interested allies.

The North Korean test accelerated interest in and deployment of the system, Butt said, especially in the Sea of Japan.

In its tests last summer, North Korea simultaneously fired missiles of different ranges. Defense systems are meant to track and intercept such missiles at specific stages, but the different systems are often unable to pass data and other information to one another to help track and cue missile targets.

Some military officials feel the North Korean missile tests were targeted, in part, to demonstrate that the country could attack those seams, Butt said.

"It was very clear they demonstrated that ability," he said.