Lockheed Martin has been selected by the Allegheny County Airport Authority in Pennsylvania to lead an $8.8 million security upgrade program that will integrate and enhance the current baggage handling system with an automated explosives detection inspection process at the Pittsburgh International Airport.

When fully operational, the enhanced baggage handling system will automate the manual process of screening all checked baggage for potential explosives. The current screening process requires bags to be carried from the ticket counter to a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) explosives detection system (EDS) screening station, then manually placed on a conveyor for dispatch to the designated aircraft.

"Heightened security requirements, coupled with continued economic pressures on our airports and airlines, present significant challenges for these operations as well as for our nation's homeland security," said Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies President Judy Marks. "Pittsburgh is one of the first airports in the country to implement an automated EDS-baggage handling combination."

The contract is part of a comprehensive security upgrade project at the Pittsburgh airport expanding the terminal to accommodate a new baggage inspection area. A world-class facility, the Pittsburgh International airport accommodates approximately 20 million travelers on nearly 450,000 flights per year. Lockheed Martin's automated baggage handling system will link to four EDS machines that will be checking baggage for potential threats. Lockheed Martin will perform the design, fabrication and test of the entire system. Project implementation will be met though a series of detail-oriented, planned phases in order to maintain minimal disruption to ongoing airport operations. The project is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2004.

Lockheed Martin is extremely excited to lead this project," said Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies President Judy Marks. "Projects like this are a perfect fit for us. Decades of successful program management, systems integration, and material and baggage handling deployment validate our qualification to support TSA and EDS projects of this magnitude and technical level."

In conjunction with winning this contract, production of baggage handling equipment begins this month at the Lockheed Martin Mississippi Space & Technology Center, which is located at the John C. Stennis Space Center near Kiln, MS.

"The Lockheed Martin facility at Stennis, which opened in 2002, is immediately ready to support our Airline Baggage Handling Integration business needs," Marks noted. "We look forward to working with its employees to provide our customers with integrated threat detection and baggage handling solutions."

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services.

For additional information, visit our website: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin