Lockheed Martin, the Department of Defense and state and local officials celebrated the opening of the company's $18 million engineering facility, laboratory and demonstration center at Redstone Gateway in Huntsville.
The 122,000-square-foot facility will have space to house 500 employees tasked with advancing national security capabilities and driving innovation in North Alabama.
“The important work being done here by our customers, our company and our industry partners positions Alabama as a key provider of high-tech 21st century defense and deterrence capabilities, empowering our military to stay ahead of accelerating threats across all domains – land, sea, air, space and cyber,” said Stephanie C. Hill, president, Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems.
“I am proud to celebrate the opening of Lockheed Martin's new engineering facility. Alabama is proud to support the military and defense sector, and Lockheed Martin's presence in Alabama plays a vital role in advancing national security and ensuring our nation remains at the forefront of technological advancement,” said Governor Kay Ivey. “Lockheed Martin's continued investment in Alabama is a testament to the strength of our workforce and Huntsville's strategic importance in shaping the future of defense.”
The work performed at the facility supports Lockheed Martin's more than 60-year tradition of customer partnerships in Huntsville supporting the air, space, land, sea and cyber domains.
The opening of this facility expands Lockheed Martin's Alabama footprint to 30 sites across the state, employing more than 3,300 people.
The team at the new facility includes:
- Readiness and sustainment of the Army's Black Hawk helicopters; This includes the current multi-year X contract, which includes production, Foreign Military Sales, and all upgrades to the aircraft.
- The team is working toward a multi-year XI contract opportunity that will deliver a modernized Blackhawk with increased range, payload and network connectivity to keep the Blackhawk ahead of threats in the future.
- Missile Defense Agency Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system. C2BMC is a layered missile defense system that provides commanders with the ability to make synchronized decisions about threats from anywhere in the world, at any distance, and at any stage of flight.
- Modeling and Simulation Contract – Framework and Tools Program, Support Modeling and Simulation Framework for Ballistic Missile Defense Systems.
The site further strengthens the company's 1LMX digital transformation to drive efficiencies, connect and optimize engineering tools, and empower Lockheed Martin employees to deliver critical capabilities with greater agility.
The new Lockheed Martin Rotary Wing Innovation Center is equipped with a state-of-the-art Sikorsky Blackhawk mission simulator and next-generation capability simulation tools to provide the Army with an interactive view into the future of the Blackhawk and enduring fleet capabilities.
The center will be a meeting point for key military, government and industry stakeholders to envision the future of Army aviation for decades to come.
Lockheed Martin's other programs in Huntsville include Long-Range Hypersonic Weapons, Next Generation Interceptor Missiles, the Javelin Weapon System and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.
This story was originally 256 today.
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