For outstanding demonstration of system level performance, the Department of Defense selected Lockheed Martin's F-117 Team Nighthawk as a winner of the first Performance Based Logistics (PBL) Award at the Aerospace Industry Association Fall Product Support Conference in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

PBL is DOD's strategy to integrate weapon system readiness and sustainment. This newly created award will be given annually to recognize government/industry teams that have demonstrated outstanding achievements in PBL.

"This award is another great example of Lockheed Martin's full commitment to support the needs of our customers," said Ted Samples, vice president of Special Mission Programs. "We are determined to ensure our products are operationally ready for tasking to tackle the demanding missions our customers are required to accomplish."

Operations and Support (O&S) typically consumes two-thirds of a fighter's ownership costs. The F-117's designed-in efficiencies mean that those expenses decline dramatically. The PBL award recognizes three categories: the system level (highest award), the sub-system level and the component level. The F-117 Nighthawk received the system award because its PBL solution maintains performance across the entire weapon system, rather than just for partial subsystems or components. It is at the system level that the customers recognize the highest potential for realizing savings and performance efficiency of the weapon system.

Lockheed Martin is a pioneer in sustainment initiatives. These concepts are being enhanced today with the development and production of its fifth generation fighters, the F/A-22 Raptor and the JSF-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Recently, the company opened the F/A-22 Technical Support Center, the focal point for communications and technical support between the contractor team and customers for the F/A-22. The newest multi-role fighter, the F-35, is enhancing this sustainment model by developing autonomic logistics, a suite of prognostics and health management capabilities that monitor the status of aircraft systems and automatically transmit the information to maintainers on the ground. F/A-22 and F-35 maintenance and sustainment programs are benchmarked from the results of the F-117 sustainment model.

"Sustainment of our aircraft is important to Lockheed Martin," said Bill Moseley, deputy vice president of Global Sustainment. "We will do whatever it takes to provide our stakeholders with exceptional operational capability and unmatched performance at a reduced cost."

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2004 sales of $35.5 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company