LOCKHEED MARTIN UK AWARDED CONTRACT FOR SONAR UPGRADES FOR UK ROYAL NAVY BALLISTIC SUBMARINES

LONDON, UK, September 5, 2006

Lockheed Martin UK has been awarded a seven-year contract to provide combat system upgrades to the sonar systems aboard four Royal Navy Vanguard Class ballistic missile submarines. More than 70 percent of the work will be performed in the United Kingdom.

The Vanguard Class submarine’s 2054 sonar suite is facing near-term obsolescence. Lockheed Martin will use the Acoustic Rapid Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Insertion (ARCI) business model, proven in US Navy service, to provide the Royal Navy submarine force with an open-architecture system that will negate obsolescence issues. The move to an open architecture will also make it easier for the Royal Navy to continuously refresh the Sonar 2054 suites as new technologies become available.

The ARCI program has been providing continuously increasing sonar capability at decreasing cost to the US Navy’s submarine force since 1998.

"Winning this contract is a significant milestone for us,” said Ian Stopps, chief executive of Lockheed Martin UK. “Not only does it demonstrate our commitment to the Sonar marketplace but by importing and indigenizing a range of highly specialised skills, we will help the UK maintain and develop sovereign capability in this important area now and in the future. We have a unique understanding of systems integration in the UK and are looking forward to bringing new capability to the Vanguard fleet.”

“We are extremely pleased by our selection as the lead integrator for the Royal Navy’s Sonar 2054 programme,” said John O’Neill, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s Undersea Systems line of business. “We look forward to working with the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence on this important program and to employing an open business model that maximizes participation by UK small and medium-sized enterprises.”

Much of the Sonar 2054 work will be performed at existing Lockheed Martin UK facilities, including an integration centre in Havant and the Swift Laboratory, a new demonstration and experimentation centre in Farnborough that opened in June 2006.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

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