RN TOMAHAWK INTEGRATION WINS MOD PROJECT OF THE YEAR

9 April 1999

Lockheed Martin has announced that the 1999 MOD (PE) project of the Year award has been won by the Royal Navy Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) project. The company performed the systems integration work on the highly successful programme.

The TLAM system was cleared for operational use on HMS Splendid in December 1998 following the successful live firing of a Tomahawk missile from a Royal Navy submarine at a test range off the Californian coast. Delivering the system within the schedule has proved crucial as the missiles are now being used as part of the NATO bid to stem the current crisis in the former Yugoslavia where they are deployed.

Lockheed Martin was appointed Prime Contractor for the submarine Integration programme by the MOD in 1995. The system provides the Royal Navy’s Hunter/killer submarine fleet with a Tomahawk weapon control and launch capability. Lockheed Martin is under contract to provide and install the system into three Swiftsure and Trafalgar Class submarines and to provide complete modification kits for four more. In a letter addressed to Lockheed Martin, Andy Crofts, OBE, MOD Project Manager for the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) programme stated “The success of the TLAM project owes a great deal to the hard work and professionalism of you, your staff and the UK subcontractors”.

Lockheed Martin has also met a significant milestone on another major UK defence programme with the delivery of the 12th Merlin Weapons System to the MOD. The Merlin HM MK1 is the Royal Navy’s new multi-mission helicopter designed to perform an ASW/AsuW role. The delivery of the latest aircraft marks the achievement of In Service date (ISD) for the Merlin system right on the MOD agreed schedule. The company was awarded the contract to deliver 44 Merlin Weapons Systems to the Royal Navy in 1991. The first Merlin Squadron was formed in December 1998. 700M, The Intensive Flying Trials Unit, based at RNAS Culdrose, will test the Merlin system before it is fully deployed in 2001.

Commenting on the these two significant achievements, Galen Ho, Chief Executive Officer of Portsmouth based Lockheed Martin said “the award of the MOD PE project of the Year and the meeting of ISD for Merlin are both excellent achievements and a clear indication of Lockheed Martin’s ability to deliver complex programmes on time. Along with our British partners in the TeamASTOR consortium, Lockheed Martin is currently competing for the £750M Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) contract. We look forward to performing these same proven skills in prime Contractorship and Systems Integration that we have already clearly demonstrated on both RNTI and Merlin on future programmes for the MOD, including ASTOR“.

The ASTOR preferred contractor for negotiations, the first major defence procurement under the new Labour government, is expected to be decided shortly.