Lockheed Martin's Maritime Systems & Sensors (MS2) unit has received contracts with a combined value of $625 million for radar development associated with the design and development phase of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), an international air defense program.

This follows the September 28 announcement that MEADS International - a multinational joint venture of Lockheed Martin, MBDA-Italia, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, and Lenkflugkorpersysteme of Germany - signed a multiyear design and development contract valued at approximately $3 billion. Lockheed Martin MS2 received its contracts from MEADS International and several of its constituent organizations.

Lockheed Martin's Syracuse, NY, facility will perform engineering development work for the new surveillance radar for MEADS. It also will contribute significant software and hardware components of the MEADS Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR). As a result, the facility expects to hire 40 additional employees for the program by the end of 2004, with another 300 onboard by 2007.

"MEADS will be the largest radar program this site has ever undertaken," said Dr. Dennis Beres, vice president, airborne and land-based radars at Lockheed Martin in Syracuse and a MEADS International board member. "When the design and development phase is complete, the full-scale radar production that follows is expected to continue for decades."

MEADS is a new mobile air defense system, under development by the United States, Germany and Italy, which will replace the Patriot and Hawk missile systems. It will combine superior battlefield protection with unprecedented flexibility, allowing it to protect maneuvering ground combat forces, as well as provide homeland defense, against tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft. MEADS incorporates advanced ground-based radars to provide 360-degree defense capability against all airborne threats, far exceeding the capability of the currently fielded Patriot radars. When completed, MEADS will be the only air defense system capable of rolling off troop transports and almost immediately beginning operations with a "plug-and-fight" capability. It will provide greater firepower with less manpower than current systems, dramatically decreasing operations and support costs.

"We're proud that Lockheed Martin's facility in Syracuse was chosen to produce advanced technology radars for MEADS, which will significantly improve the defenses of U.S. and allied armed forces around the world," said Congressman Jim Walsh (R-NY-25). "This program is a model of transatlantic cooperation, and the Salina facility's participation is a real tribute to Central New York's highly skilled workforce."

In 2001, Lockheed Martin's radar business was awarded a $45 million contract for the Risk Reduction Effort phase of MEADS, which was successfully completed in 2004.

In 1999, MEADS International, Inc., was selected by NAMEADSMA, a chartered organization of NATO, to develop MEADS. A multinational joint venture headquartered in Orlando, FL, MEADS International's participating companies are MBDA-Italia, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company and Lenkflugkorpersysteme in Germany and Lockheed Martin in the United States. Together, these companies have focused an international engineering team in Orlando to develop systems and technologies for the MEADS program, which continues as a model for collaborative transatlantic development.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 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 Web site: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/ms2

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin