Lockheed Martin selected for U.S. Air Force navigation warfare study.

GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 1996--Lockheed Martin Federal Systems in Gaithersburg, a business unit of Lockheed Martin (LMT: NYSE), will lead a study team competing to develop a new system that will protect battlefield use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation signal by the United States and its allies -- and prevent hostile forces from exploiting the system's extremely reliable accuracy.

The 13-month Navigation Warfare (NAVWAR) program study contract from the U.S. Air Force is valued at $3.6 million, and is the first phase in a multi-million dollar, next-step evolutionary development of GPS. The Air Force will use the study results to establish an acquisition strategy and system level requirements for the engineering, manufacturing and development phase of the NAVWAR program.

The complexity of the study will leverage the depth and breadth of Lockheed Martin's experience in electronic warfare, GPS spacecraft and ground systems, anti-jam antenna technologies and systems integration, as well as theater command and control systems. The Federal Systems team comprises a number of Lockheed Martin units.

The NAVWAR study will define and evaluate new technologies and techniques, and develop system-level architectures for protecting the GPS signal during conflicts, while also minimizing the disruptive impact to civilian and commercial users. Enemy forces would be prevented from using the highly accurate GPS navigation signal against U.S. forces, for purposes such as targeting munitions or directing troop movement.

When developed as a system, the NAVWAR architecture will include a variety of new technologies, operational concepts and tactics that will affect electronic warfare systems, the GPS satellite, ground command and control systems, receivers and antennas. These technologies will be integrated into the U.S. defense infrastructure, including aircraft, munitions, missiles, tanks, artillery and infantry to allow U.S. forces to maintain its critical military advantage.

For nearly two decades, Lockheed Martin has been involved in the development and support of GPS systems. Federal Systems has provided GPS solutions from design and development of the initial GPS control segment to command and control of the first generation of GPS Block I satellites, to development of the current GPS Operational Control Segment. Lockheed Martin also develops and manufactures the GPS Block IIR satellite and has integrated GPS technology into a diverse group of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft and missile systems.

Federal Systems in Gaithersburg, with expertise in command and control systems, leads a highly capable team drawn from companies and business units throughout the corporation: Federal Systems in Owego, N.Y. (electronic warfare), Electronic Defense Systems (antenna technologies), Tactical Aircraft Systems (aircraft integration), Missiles and Space (GPS satellite), and Electronics and Missiles (guided munitions integration). Core team member Interstate Electronics Corp. (GPS receivers) and other technology companies will also support the effort.

Federal Systems in Gaithersburg provides satellite command and control for the Air Force, federal systems integration for civilian agencies and software development for intelligence systems.

Lockheed Martin, headquartered in Bethesda, Md., is a highly diversified advanced technology company with annualized sales of $30 billion. It has more than 190,000 employees worldwide.

CONTACT: Lockheed Martin

Thad S. Madden, Jr., [phone]

http://www.lockheed.com