Lockheed Martin today announced that IBM UK Limited has joined its team competing for Project Helix, a reconnaissance upgrade to the Royal Air Force's fleet of Nimrod R Mk1 aircraft. IBM will bring their real-time middleware services, content and knowledge management to assist the Lockheed Martin-led team in developing UK- specific elements for the Helix system architecture. This multi-year acquisition programme is worth up to 400M pounds Sterling (approximately $700M) to the winning contractor.

"We are delighted to add IBM UK to our team," said John Mengucci, vice president and general manager of Department of Defence Systems for Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems & Solutions. "IBM UK will assist us in ensuring the system remains technically agile and robust over decades of service."

Ian Stopps, chief executive, Lockheed Martin UK, agreed, stating that "Lockheed Martin's competitive trade space is focused on a high tech, low risk, net-enabled solution. IBM, with their reputation for innovation, provides a highly complementary capability to our Helix team."

Alan Hammill, Defence Director, IBM UK, stated, "IBM is delighted to build on our close working relationship with Lockheed Martin, providing insight and experience for the development of high performance computing infrastructures, capable of supporting the range of open, commercial standards-based technologies that the Ministry of Defense (MoD) will need to exploit throughout the lifetime of the Helix capability."

The Nimrod R Mk1 is the UK's electronic reconnaissance aircraft that examines radio and radar emissions and provides electronic combat support to the military commander. Originally designed as a maritime patrol and anti- submarine aircraft, a number of Nimrod aircraft were adapted for this secondary role, where the original maritime equipment was removed and replaced with a highly sophisticated suite of systems used for electronic reconnaissance to provide combat support to the military commander.

As lead systems integrator, Lockheed Martin's Integrated Systems & Solutions leads one of two teams selected by the MoD for Project Helix's "programme-definition" phase. One team will be selected for a "risk-reduction" phase in late 2006. This will be followed by a system demonstration and ultimately a production contract for the electronic reconnaissance equipment starting in 2007.

With over 80 years of leadership in helping governments and businesses innovate, IBM is the world's largest information technology and services company. In the UK, it is one of the principal suppliers to the MoD of business solutions, comprising: consulting; systems integration; systems management; technical support; software; and hardware. IBM's strategy is to be the government's trusted business partner, delivering major IT-enabled business change that improves efficiency and enhances front-line services.

Lockheed Martin UK, a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is a leader in systems integration working on major programmes spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors. Lockheed Martin works with more than 100 business partners and employs over 1500 people at 15 sites across the UK

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. The corporation reported 2005 sales of $37.2 billion.

For additional information on the Lockheed Martin Corporation, visit our Web sites:

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/

http://www.lockheedmartin.co.uk/

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin