Lockheed Martin Aircraft & Logistics Centers' has been selected by the Defense Logistics Agency through a competitive process to manage aircraft parts support for the C-5 Galaxy aircraft. The new 3-year contract provides for seven additional years in options. If all option periods are exercised, the value of the contract is estimated at approximately $1.1 billion.

Under the contract, Aircraft & Logistics Centers will function as a supply and distribution manager for logistics support to depot maintenance facilities and worldwide customers. The company will work with suppliers and customers to improve forecasting requirements and product quality.

The contract encompasses nearly 12,000 consumable items that will be phased in to support operational requirements over the first year of the contract. Aircraft and Logistics Centers will also establish information systems that enable DLA's supply centers to place and track electronic orders and the customer will have total asset visibility through the Internet.

The C-5, one of the largest aircraft in the world, is an outsized-cargo transport that will provide the U.S. Air Force with inter-theater airlift support through 2040. Lockheed Martin built 126 C-5s at its Marietta, Ga., plant from 1970 to 1989.

"This is a new approach to the management of the supply chain for an entire weapon system and reflects increasing government and industry cooperation to provide support to the warfighter," said Daniel W. Patterson, President of Aircraft & Logistics Centers. "This program is designed to improve the availability of parts to support maintenance and supply operations for the C-5."

This contract positions Greenville as a hub for logistics support for the C-5 Galaxy and expands Aircraft & Logistics Centers' services to include depot-level operational support to the Defense Logistics Agency. Work under the contract will be performed in Greenville where approximately 40 new jobs will be created. Professionals in the areas of program management, logistics, forecasting, engineering and information technology will support the program.

Aircraft & Logistics Centers, headquartered in Greenville, S.C., is the aerospace support arm of the Technology Services Business Area of the Lockheed Martin Corporation, and is one of the leading providers of aircraft maintenance and total life cycle support services for the Department of Defense and commercial customers. The company has 8,000 employees at more than 90 locations throughout the United States and overseas.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a highly diversified global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products and services. The corporation's core businesses are systems integration, space, aeronautics and technology services. Lockheed Martin had 1999 sales surpassing $25 billion.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Aircraft & Logistics Centers