Norway Selects Team Of Bazan And Lockheed Martin To Provide New Frigate For Royal Norwegian Navy
MOORESTOWN, NJ, February 29th, 2000 -- The Norwegian Ministry of Defence today announced that a team led by shipbuilder Empresa Nacional Bazan (E.N. Bazan) of Spain was selected to provide the Royal Norwegian Navy with a new frigate designed to protect the country against subsurface, surface and air threats. Norway's Minister of Defence Elbjørg Løwer announced at a press conference in Oslo today that the Bazan/Lockheed Martin team will build five frigate-sized ships under the program. The first ship will be delivered to Norway in 2005. The value of the program is 12.2 billion Norwegian kroner ($1.4 billion). Approval by the Norwegian Parliament is required before a contract can be signed.
Members of the Bazan team include Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems (NE&SS)-Moorestown and Norwegian companies Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace AS (KDA), Umoe, and Mjellum & Karlsen, among others. Lockheed Martin will provide the integrated weapon system (IWS) to the frigate and Norwegian industry will provide key elements of the IWS to the team.
Lockheed Martin's integrated weapon system bid is based on the U.S. Navy's Aegis combat system, for which Lockheed Martin serves as prime contractor and engineering design agent. Other notable elements of the integrated weapon system solution include a frigate-size version of the SPY-1 radar, which is the heart of the AEGIS system and the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, the below-deck missile launching system designed and developed by Lockheed Martin and deployed on U.S. Navy ships and those of allied nations.
The Aegis system is currently operational on 27 TICONDEROGA-class cruisers, 28 ARLEIGH BURKE-class destroyers and four KONGO-class destroyers in Japan, and is in production for Spain's F-100 ships. Lockheed Martin's role in the Norwegian New Frigate program is valued at approximately $500 million.
"We are delighted that Bazan, Lockheed Martin and our Norwegian partners have been selected to undertake this important program on behalf of the Royal Norwegian Navy," said Vance D. Coffman, Lockheed Martin Corporation chairman and chief executive officer. "This transatlantic partnership is illustrative of Lockheed Martin's commitment to work with partners around the world to offer the best and most cost-effective solutions to our customers."
"Our selection by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence is a prime example of how the NE&SS organization forges effective international partnerships to deliver maximum value to its customers," said Joseph D. Antinucci, president, Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems. "This program provides for the development of a high-performance combat system and provides a radar - the SPY-1F - which is tailored to Norwegian requirements and clearly delivers the best value for the money. The SPY-1F expands the Lockheed Martin radar portfolio with a product that can serve customers in the $40-billion surface ship market over the next 10 years."
"We are proud to be a member of a world-class international team which will provide the citizens of Norway with a capable new frigate that will protect the national interests of the country," said Fred P. Moosally, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin NE&SS-Moorestown. "Our team's frigate will ensure a high degree of interoperability between the maritime forces of Norway, the U.S. and their allies, making combined missions easier to execute."
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is part of Norway's premier high technology enterprise Kongsberg Gruppen ASA. In 1997, Kongsberg Gruppen was reorganized and divided into two main business areas, Kongsberg Marine AS and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS.
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is Norway's leading defense enterprise, and accounted for over one third of the Group's 1998 operating revenue of approximately $620 million (U.S.).
Core product areas are command and weapon control systems for surface combatants and submarines, anti-ship missiles, and communications. As Norway's largest supplier to the international defense industry, exports accounts for 86 percent of orders.
E.N. Bazan was established in 1742 as a shipyard devoted to the Royal Spanish Navy and is now fully dedicated to design and construction of vessels for both the Spanish Navy and the international market. E.N. Bazan employs more than 5,000 people in three facilities.
NE&SS-Moorestown is one of six major operating sites in the Lockheed Martin NE&SS business segment. NE&SS provides surface ship and submarine combat systems, antisubmarine warfare and ocean surveillance systems, missile launching systems, radar and sensor systems, ship systems integration services and other advanced systems and services to customers worldwide. It is the largest business organization in the Lockheed Martin Systems Integration business area.
Jim Tierney, NE&SS-Moorestown, 856.722.5848; jim.g.tierney@lmco.com
Rich Palmay, NE&SS-Moorestown, 856.722.2708; richard.l.palmay@lmco.com
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