Lockheed Martin kicked off construction of a new office building in Huntsville, Ala., with a ground-breaking ceremony today. The new facility will expand the corporation's Huntsville Operations business unit on Bradford Drive.

Officials participating in the ground-breaking ceremony included: Sen. Jeff Sessions; Rep. Robert "Bud" Cramer Jr.; Rep. Robert B. Aderholt; Alabama Governor Bob Riley; Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer; Madison County Commission Chairman Mike Gillespie; and Dr. Robert H. Trice, senior vice president of business development for Lockheed Martin.

Approximately 350 people attended the event, including Lockheed Martin employees, government and military personnel, community members and other guests.

"This new building accommodates the continued growth of our talented workforce," said Huntsville Operations Director Robert A. Drolet, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "Most importantly, this facility will enable us to further expand our support to our Department of Defense customers and the important work they do for our nation."

Lockheed Martin Huntsville Operations, which employs nearly 550 people, has increased its workforce by 13 percent in the past year and expects to further increase its workforce over the next few years due to increased business associated with several core missile defense programs and a major thrust to support directed-energy initiatives.

Construction of the 166,000-square-foot office building is scheduled to begin later this month, subject to final negotiations between Lockheed Martin and Sunnyvale II development group of Huntsville. The building is scheduled to be completed in October 2007. In addition to office space, the building will include computer labs, conference rooms and a customer interface center with state-of-the-art electronics for specialized presentations and multiple meeting capabilities.

The new facility will be the eighth building in the Lockheed Martin 80-acre campus on Bradford Drive in Research Park. Occupying the site since 1963, Lockheed Martin completed a major expansion in 1996 with the construction of a similar 170,000 square-foot building.

Lockheed Martin Huntsville Operations performs program management and engineering for key missile defense contracts and is the site of the corporation's Battle Management Center of Excellence.

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.

Media Contact:

Lynn Fisher, 408-742-7606; cell 408-505-6026; lynn.m.fisher@lmco.com

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin