Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has selected Northrop Grumman [NYSE: NOC] as a teammate in the competition to develop the space-based radar (SBR) system for the U.S. Air Force.

The SBR mission will provide worldwide, on-demand surveillance and reconnaissance for the Department of Defense and national intelligence agencies. Scheduled for initial launch in 2012, the SBR system will grow to a constellation of spacecraft to provide rapid-revisit coverage of the entire Earth’s surface. Lockheed Martin Space Systems will lead the effort as the system prime contractor, while Northrop Grumman will serve as Lockheed Martin’s subcontractor. Lockheed Martin has been under contract to the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center since December 2002 to perform trade studies and define alternative concepts for the SBR system.