Northrop Grumman Corporation on Wednesday announced the opening of its new Missile Defense Futures Lab (MDFL) in Huntsville, which the defense giant says will be utilized to develop, test and field an integrated missile defense system.

The Rocket City is home to the MDFL’s flagship location. The Lab is also comprised of distribution facilities in six different states spanning multiple regions of the nation.

Lisa Brown, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of missile defense solutions, says the company is focused on efficiency through digital transformation.

“Partnering with our customers, Northrop Grumman is leading the way as the defense industry undergoes digital transformation,” said Brown. “With speed and agility we can securely meet with teams across the country, start designing a product, share it with the customer and receive feedback in real-time, reducing the length of our product roadmap dramatically.”

We’ve opened our new Missile Defense Futures Lab in Huntsville, Alabama. Learn more: https://t.co/KcGhq1pKhI pic.twitter.com/TEZ6NbDSLW

— Northrop Grumman (@NGCNews) August 18, 2021

The company says its MDFL employs comprehensive modeling, simulation and visualization capabilities to foster innovation and collaboration between developers and warfighters. With custom-built servers and the ability to process and relay data from missile detecting satellites and ground stations, the MDFL supports missile defense systems engineers with research, modeling, and simulation and the development of tracking software to respond to nuclear and other threats.

The release further states that Northrop Grumman’s end-to-end, multi-domain approach to hypersonic and ballistic missile defense spans technologies in multiple warfighting domains from sea to space, as well as the electromagnetic and cyber environments.

Last year, the aerospace company was named a prime contractor by the United States Air Force for the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBDS) program, which is the weapon system replacement for the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system. At the time of the project’s announcement, the company advised that elements of the project’s work would be conducted in Huntsville and Montgomery.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL