What Next for MMA?

The U.S. Navy's Multimission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program will be in the spotlight this week as Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp., find out which company will supply the platform. However, several Pentagon officials in Virginia, insist that activities in the shadows hold the key to the program's success. The most important elements of MMA, say Pentagon intelligence officials, may turn out to be the products derived from the maritime patrol system, such as gathering enemy signals, analyzing communications networks and finding the weak links that allow computer attacks. The way network-centric warfare is to be fought will require large aircraft that can study enemy forces for many hours to capture the electronic fingerprints that reveal how computer systems, anti-aircraft defenses and mobile ballistic missile forces operate.