The U.S. Navy awarded a Lockheed Martin -led team nearly $198 million for construction of the Navy's third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). This is the second LCS awarded to the Lockheed Martin team.

The Lockheed Martin team will begin construction in the first quarter of 2007 at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, LA. The ship will be delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2009. The U.S. Congress authorized and appropriated the funds for this additional ship in the fiscal year 2006 Department of Defense Appropriations Act.

"We are excited to continue our partnership with the U.S. Navy on the revolutionary Littoral Combat Ship program," said Dave Broadbent, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Littoral Ships & Systems business. "The team is committed to the LCS program and ready to begin work on our second ship. We continue to make tremendous progress on our first ship as we look forward to its christening this fall. This award enables our team to continue the Navy's vision for building its transformational fleet."

Bollinger Shipyards has already played an active role in the LCS program. During the construction of the first LCS, Freedom (LCS 1), Bollinger constructed one of the ship's stern modules, giving their Lockport workforce the opportunity to train on LCS processes and further demonstrating the strength and integration capabilities of the Lockheed Martin team.

Freedom, the nation's first LCS, is currently under construction at Marinette Marine in Marinette, WI. The Lockheed Martin team was awarded the contract for Freedom in December 2004, began construction of the ship in February 2005 and laid its keel in June 2005. The ship will be christened this fall and delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2007.

The Lockheed Martin team design for LCS is a survivable, semi-planing steel monohull that provides outstanding maneuverability with proven sea- keeping characteristics to support launch and recovery operations, mission execution and optimum crew comfort. The LCS will be the first surface combatant to be classed under the new Naval Vessel Rules by the American Bureau of Shipping.

The Lockheed Martin-led team includes naval architect Gibbs & Cox, ship builders Marinette Marine, a subsidiary of The Manitowoc Company, Inc. , and Bollinger Shipyards, as well as best-of-industry domestic and international teammates to provide a flexible, low-risk warfighting solution.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

For additional information, visit our website:

http://www.lmlcsteam.com/.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin