Lockheed Martin yesterday received the Excellence Award from the U.S. Navy's Program Executive Office for Theater Surface Combatants. The award recognizes Lockheed Martin's work in the successful repair of the USS Cole, crippled in a 2000 terrorist attack, and for improvements in the machinery control system for the Navy's newest destroyers ships.

Attacked during refueling in Aden, Yemen, the explosion penetrated the Cole's hull near the ship's Lockheed Martin-built machinery control system, destroying the equipment. The system provides a centralized control of the ship's machinery plant including the gas turbine propulsion system, electric plant control, damage control and auxiliary control. Tasked by the Navy to get the ship back into service quickly, Lockheed Martin needed to build an out-of- production configuration of the shaft control unit, eventually delivering the unit in one-third the normal manufacturing time, according to the Navy award citation delivered by the United States Navy's Deputy Director of AEGIS Programs, Randy Fortune. The Navy noted that the project required expert management of the engineering, production and procurement efforts.

"Our employees worked around the clock with focused dedication to accomplish our customer's goal," said Lockheed Martin Information Systems President John Hallal. "Total commitment was obvious by the many employees who kept photos of the USS Cole near their workstations."

Lockheed Martin has provided machinery control systems for 18 ship classes in nine navies around the world, including the DDG 51-class ships such as the USS Cole. A total of 47 DDG 51-class machinery control system shipsets have been delivered by Lockheed Martin, all on or ahead of schedule.

The Navy credits Lockheed Martin's application of lean and six-sigma processes, known as LM21 Operation Excellence, for achieving significant productivity savings over the life of the program, yielding a system cost decrease of 50 percent since the beginning of the DDG 51 program. Since the introduction of the first shipset, system cost has decreased by half and mean time between failures has improved by over 100 percent. Lockheed Martin's Universal Engine Controller, the cornerstone of its Machinery Control System, has achieved greater than 50 percent improvement in mean time between failures since it was first introduced to the fleet in 2000.

"This award recognizes the professionalism and dedication of the employees here at Lockheed Martin. Your efforts in repairing USS Cole were instrumental in getting this ship back in service to our nation. Your continuous improvements to the DDG 51 program's machinery control system ensure that our sailors are equipped with the most capable and technically advanced ships in the world today, and for the forseeable future. These initiatives embody inventiveness, skill, know-how and commitment which have given the U.S. Navy the capability to protect our country's interests worldwide," Fortune said at the award ceremony.

Lockheed Martin's Orlando-based unit has a 30-year heritage of ship machinery control system design, manufacturing, installation, integration, and support for the U.S. Navy and international customers. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems products and services.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Information Systems