Lockheed Martin to Assemble Small Diameter Bomb in Alabama Missile Facility
ORLANDO, FlL, May 6th, 2003 -- Lockheed Martin plans to assemble its Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) at its world-class, award-winning Pike County Operations facility in Troy, Ala. Assembly will be performed in a building being converted to handle the new GPS-guided glide bombs. In 2002, Lockheed Martin Pike County Operations received the internationally renowned Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing and was named winner of the Alabama Manufacturer of the Year Award. Both awards recognized high standards and expert use of lean principles in core manufacturing.
Recognized throughout its Corporation as the Lockheed Martin "Strike Weapons Center of Excellence," Pike County Operations is a manufacturing and final assembly plant for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control
Currently in competition for the SDB contract, Lockheed Martin will be ready to manufacture and assemble the weapon if selected by the Air Force in the Fall of 2003.
"We look forward to adding SDB to our production lines here at Troy," said Randy Stevenson, Pike County Operations plant manager. "We have the expertise to turn out systems to meet the Air Force's requirement and will use experienced personnel from other programs to form the nucleus of our SDB assembly team," Stevenson said.
Lockheed Martin's Troy-based facility will receive component parts from subcontractors and perform weapon final assembly. Assembly lines and equipment for specific tasks in the process are being identified. Final facilitization would take place upon contract award.
Currently, Lockheed Martin's Pike County Operations supports seven production programs: Javelin, Longbow, Hellfire and Predator in the Anti-Armor Missile mission area; and the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and AGM-142 missile programs in the strike weapons mission area. Through expansion of existing programs and addition of the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile production, Pike County Operations plans to build more facilities and add more employees over the next few years.
During the SDB program's Component Advanced Development (CAD) phase, Lockheed Martin successfully completed several significant tests including first-to-fly tests in December, January and February. Successes include four Instrumented Measurement Vehicle (IMV) unit captive carry tests on the F-15E, IMV Safety of Flight and Pre-flight Certification Tests, a warhead sled test, and fit checks on the F-15E, F/A-22, B-52, F-16, A-10, and F-117 aircraft.
Weighing 250 pounds, the SDB will be considerably smaller than other precision-guided munitions, thus increasing the number of weapons a given platform can hold and decreasing the risk of collateral damage. Because of its potential for lean, precise strike, Air Force and industry officials consider the weapon to be an important element of the Global Strike Task Force concept.
Threshold platforms for the SDB are the F-15E Strike Eagle and the B-1 bomber. Additionally, the program has received a great deal of attention because of its eventual integration onto the F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter.
Over the life of the program, officials expect to buy a minimum of 24,000 SDBs with the final numbers to be determined.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control develops, manufactures and integrates world-class air defense, fire support, strike weapon, naval munition, combat vision, anti-armor and advanced product solutions and systems for U.S. and international armed forces.
Nettie Johnson, 407-356-2211/5351; nettie.r.johnson@lmco.com
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