The Lockheed Martin - led industry team delivered the nation's first Littoral Combat Ship, Freedom (LCS 1), to the U.S. Navy today. The delivery milestone marks the Navy's preliminary acceptance of LCS 1, clearing the way for the ship's crew to prepare her for commissioning and service.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080918/NETH118 )

"This is a truly exciting day for the Navy. Today marks a critical milestone in fulfilling the need and realizing the vision we began just a few years ago," Capt. James Murdoch, the LCS Program Manager said. "Despite our challenges, the Navy and industry have continued to press on to build and deliver the first ship of a unique class, a ship class that will give our Nation our own asymmetric advantages against future maritime threats."

"I am extremely proud of all the men and women of Lockheed Martin, Marinette Marine, Gibbs & Cox and Bollinger whose hard work has successfully delivered Freedom to the fleet," said Dan Schultz, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Maritime Security & Ship Systems business. "Our team is prepared to build more of these agile warships to give the Navy unsurpassed capabilities and dominance in the littorals."

The 378-foot Freedom -- a survivable, semi-planing steel monohull -- will help the Navy defeat growing threats and provide access and dominance in the littoral battlespace. Reaching speeds over 40 knots and displacing 3,000 metric tons, Freedom is a fast, maneuverable and networked surface combatant with operational flexibility to execute focused missions, such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and the potential for a wide range of additional missions including maritime interdiction and humanitarian/disaster relief.

In 2004, the Navy awarded a contract to the Lockheed Martin team to develop the first LCS. Construction began in February 2005 and Freedom was christened and launched in September 2006. This represents less than half the time typically required to design, build, launch and deliver a first-in-class combatant. Freedom successfully completed sea trials in August 2008 and will be commissioned on November 8, 2008 in Milwaukee, WI and eventually homeported in San Diego, CA.

The Lockheed Martin-led industry team for LCS also 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 war fighting solution.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 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 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.

Media contact: Diana K. Massing, 410-682-0986 or diana.massing@lmco.com

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin