The U.S. Navy has awarded a Lockheed Martin -led industry team a fixed price incentive fee contract to construct the Navy's third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Marinette Marine Corporation in Marinette, WI, will construct the ship.

"The Freedom class LCS is the most affordable surface combatant in the current shipbuilding plan in the last four decades - only six years from concept to the fleet, half the time," said Dan Schultz, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Integrated Defense Technologies business. "The Lockheed Martin team is committed to the U.S. Navy's LCS program and we are ready to begin work on the next ship. LCS fills a critical need in the Navy's vision for building its transformational fleet and we are pleased to continue our partnership with the Navy on this revolutionary program."

The nation's first LCS, USS Freedom, was also built at Marinette Marine. USS Freedom was commissioned by the Navy on November 8, 2008, following successful sea trials in August and delivery in September.

"I am very proud of the Lockheed Martin team's delivery of USS Freedom to the Navy and LCS 1's performance since delivery," added Schultz. "This ship provides unmatched capability expanding the dominance of the U.S. fleet now and in the years to come."

The Lockheed Martin team design for LCS is a survivable, semi-planing steel monohull that provides outstanding maneuverability with proven sea-keeping characteristics and innovative design features to support launch and recovery operations of manned and unmanned vehicles. Reaching speeds well over 40 knots, the ship is a 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.

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 is a global security company that employs about 146,000 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 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin