COURTLAND, Ala., Oct. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] held an event yesterday to mark 20 years in Courtland, Ala., where it manufactures defense systems. The company acquired the 660-acre Courtland property in 1993 and began construction that year of nine buildings on the site, which was a U.S. Army Air Corps base during World War II. More than 100 employees and contractors attended the anniversary celebration at the facility.    

"Our Courtland facility long has contributed to the nation's defense," said Kelly DeFazio, director of Courtland Operations, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "Our dedicated employees are committed to innovatively supporting the hardware requirements of our government customers' complex missions."

Since 2007, the Courtland facility has been a production site for the assembly, integration and test of next-generation ballistic missile targets for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Targets and Countermeasures Program. Lockheed Martin Space System Company's program office for Targets and Countermeasures is based at the company's Huntsville, Ala., facility, which is celebrating 50 years of operation this year.

Previously, Lockheed Martin performed production in Courtland for several other programs. In the 1990s the facility manufactured Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) test vehicles and case assemblies for the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Paveway III munitions. From 2002 to 2006, the facility assembled the Boost-Vehicle-Plus booster for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense System.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company currently employs approximately 70 people at the Courtland facility, which now houses 13 buildings.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 116,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2012 were $47.2 billion.

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

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SOURCE Lockheed Martin