Lockheed Martin to Provide Automated Test Devices for Navy and Marine Aircraft; Supports Testing of Avionics, Radar, and Electronic Warfare Systems.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 26, 2000

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), under a contract worth up to $180 million, will provide integrated hardware and software kits, called test program sets (TPS), to the U.S. Navy for testing avionics, radar, and electronic warfare systems.

The six-year contract, awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Md., calls for the replacement of 545 TPS kits for use with the Consolidated Automated Support System (CASS), the Navy's standard test system. More than 450 CASS systems are in use in aviation intermediate maintenance departments, both ashore and aboard aircraft carriers and marine aviation logistics squadrons throughout the United States and allied nations.

TPS kits are required by Navy technicians to execute automated tests to detect and isolate faults in electronic assemblies on aircraft systems. Technicians currently must use multiple unique legacy testers to perform tasks.

The new test kits are also compatible with the Navy's new Reconfigurable Transportable Consolidated Automated Support System (RTCASS), designed to provide a portable system that delivers the robust support capability of the standard CASS station with a smaller footprint.

"CASS has already saved the Navy over $1 billion with projected savings in excess of $3 billion over the next 15 years," said Lockheed Martin Information Systems President John Hallal. "Our commitment to customer support is recognized in this award as we become the largest TPS developer for the U.S. Navy."

Marie Greening, Program Manager for Aviation Support Equipment at the Naval Air Systems command remarked, "Clearly, Lockheed Martin's proposal emphasized superior product performance for our sailors and marines relying on the CASS system to maintain aircraft readiness ashore and afloat.

This award is a testimony to the long-standing partnership formed between Lockheed Martin Information Systems and the Navy and is a tribute to Lockheed Martin's resolve to provide our war-fighters with the avionics test industry's best technology and hardware."

The CASS program is the first recognized DoD standard test system providing state-of-the-art general-purpose analog, digital, extremely high frequency stimulus and measurement capabilities and electro-optical test functions. The first RTCASS application is for the V-22 aircraft.

Lockheed Martin Information Systems was recently awarded the final CASS production Lots 10 to 13, providing the Navy upwards of 700 CASS test systems. Naval aircraft included in the avionics, radar and electronic warfare systems testing include: E-2C, EA-6B, F-14, F/A-18, AV-8B, S-3, and SH-60 Anti Submarine Warfare helicopter.

Currently, CASS stations are fielded throughout the world in countries such as Australia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain, Switzerland, and Taiwan.

Lockheed Martin employs approximately 6,500 employees at facilities in Central Florida.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's core businesses are systems integration, space, aeronautics, and technology services.