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Lockheed Martin Delivers 50,000th Paveway II Laser Guided Training Round to U.S. Navy

ARCHBALD, PA, February 9th, 2006 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] recently delivered its 50,000th Laser Guided Training Round (LGTR) to the U.S. Navy, meeting its commitment to provide a low-cost, effective training tool for the warfighter. The total estimated value of the contract over the life of the program is $150 million.

“We started this program as a congressional plus-up, where Congress gave us a minimal amount of funding, so we only produced about 2,000 units a year for the first four years, and now we’re up to 15,000 per year,” said Jim Elliott, U.S. Navy LGTR program manager at the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD. “It has shown its utility -- it’s become a great training tool and we now have the opportunity to continue to improve the system and show just how much better it can get.”

“Lockheed Martin offered the U.S. Navy a solution that would save significant cost and Laser Guided Bomb inventory by providing inexpensive training rounds that simulate the performance of guidance kits,” said Cynthia Sailar, vice president and general manager of the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control facility in Archbald, PA. “It has proven to be the optimal training solution for our warfighters while conserving the Navy’s inventory of LGBs for real wartime missions.”

LGTRs are used in place of the Navy’s current inventory of munitions to train aircrews in live-fire training and weapons delivery proficiency without the high cost of using real assets during exercises. LGTRs are primarily fitted on Navy F/A-18s, but can also be fitted to other aircraft such as F-16s and multiple international platforms.

Lockheed Martin has been producing LGTRs for the U.S. Navy and international customers in seven countries since 1990.

In addition to LGTRs, Lockheed Martin’s 350,000-square-foot facility located in Northeastern Pennsylvania designs and manufactures LGB kits, specialized instrumentation and control systems and provides manufacturing services such as state-of-the-art metal crafting and electro-mechanical assemblies. In November 2005, the U.S. Navy selected Lockheed Martin to develop, qualify and produce the Paveway II Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb kits, the next-generation precision-guided weapon system. The contract calls for a 2006 procurement worth $65 million and a five-year procurement with a potential value of $266 million.

Lockheed Martin’s facility in Archbald was awarded the 2005 Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Excellence. Referred to by Business Week magazine as the “Nobel prize of manufacturing”, the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing is awarded annually to companies that demonstrate world-class business results through the implementation of Lean Manufacturing principles and practices. The Archbald facility was also nominated one of 25 finalists of North America’s Best Plant competition in the July 2005 issue of Industry Week magazine.

Jennifer Allen, (407) 356-5351
e-mail jennifer.l.allen@lmco.com