DEVESLU, Romania, May 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The first Aegis Ashore site in Europe, based on proven Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) technology, is now actively monitoring the skies of southern Europe for ballistic missile threats.

The U.S. Navy is operationally certified the Aegis Ashore site at Deveslu Air Force Base in Romania. This officially fulfills Phase II of the European Phased Adaptive Approach, a plan to protect deployed U.S. forces and our European allies from ballistic missile attack. This milestone was marked during a ceremony on May 12 in Romania. The certification, comes at the same time as construction commences at the second European Aegis Ashore site, in Poland.  A groundbreaking ceremony will be held in Poland on May 13.

"It's fitting that work on the Poland site begins just as Aegis Ashore's important mission in Romania officially commences," said Brendan Scanlon, director, Lockheed Martin Aegis Ashore programs. "The lessons learned and incredible teamwork that brought the Aegis Combat System ashore will lead to even greater cost-savings and efficiencies for the Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Navy and the sailors who protect the country and its allies."

Lockheed Martin received the contract for Aegis Ashore in Romania in 2010, which heavily leveraged the proven shipboard Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system. The aggressive delivery timeline was achieved in 2015 thanks to the minimal development required to establish the on-shore system, innovations in modularity, and teamwork. The Corporation leveraged lessons learned from its more than 40 years of Aegis experience to fulfill the United States' desire to conduct new missions with existing capabilities.

The central component of the Lockheed Martin-developed Aegis BMD Combat System is the SPY-1 radar; the most widely-fielded naval phased array radar in the world. The Aegis system and SPY-1 radar provide the U.S. and allied nations with advanced surveillance, anti-air warfare and missile defense capabilities.

Elements of the Poland Aegis Ashore Weapon System, including SPY arrays are currently under production by Lockheed Martin. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is expected this spring to award a contract for the installation and test of the Aegis Ashore system.

As a proven world leader in systems integration and development of air and missile defense systems and technologies, Lockheed Martin delivers high-quality missile defense solutions that protect citizens, critical assets and deployed forces from current and future threats. The company's experience spans missile design and production, hit-to-kill capabilities, infrared seekers, command and control/battle management, and communications, precision pointing and tracking optics, radar and signal processing, as well as threat-representative targets for missile defense tests.

For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/aegis/aegis-ashore.html.

About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

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SOURCE Lockheed Martin