Lockheed Martin Corporation

United Kingdom News

Army Officers Inspect Latest Military Equipment

AMPTHILL, Feb 11 2015: Senior officers from across the British Army have visited Lockheed Martin UK’s Ampthill site for an update on the key programmes that the company is delivering for the UK military.

Almost 100 representatives from across the Army, from Generals to Commanding Officers, were shown a range of capability that is being designed, manufactured and tested at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Bedfordshire.

Lockheed Martin UK is upgrading 380 of the Army’s Warrior vehicles with new mission systems and fully digital turrets. Last year, the Ampthill site was also awarded a contract for over £650 million to manufacture 245 turrets for the Scout SV vehicle.

Over £9 million of investment is being made in new infrastructure and manufacturing facilities at the site over the next 12 months ready for the turret production to begin in 2016.

The senior officers were given a tour of the new facilities and were also able to try out the new Warrior and Scout SV turrets.

Eleven suppliers from across the country who are key partners for Lockheed Martin in the Warrior and Scout SV programmes were also on display, highlighting the role of the supply chain in these important programmes.

The event was also a chance for some of the 900 employees based at Ampthill to learn more about the wide range of programmes that are being delivered from the 64 acre site. Staff were given the chance to sit in an Apache attack helicopter which had been flown in for the occasion to demonstrate Lockheed Martin’s weapons systems capability.

Alan Lines, Vice President and Managing Director of Lockheed Martin’s Ampthill site said: “There is a tremendous amount of work taking place at Ampthill to deliver the Army’s future capability. From state of the art vehicle turrets to high tech battlefield management systems and weapons, our staff are playing a key role in providing the life-saving equipment that will be used by soldiers on the frontline for years to come.

“We are continuing to invest millions of pounds into our site to make sure we have the right infrastructure and highly skilled workforce to deliver these vitally important programmes.”

Lockheed Martin UK, headquartered in London, is the UK-based arm of Lockheed Martin Corporation, a global security and aerospace company which specialises in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. Lockheed Martin UK employs more than 3,000 people across 21 UK sites working on a wide range of major programmes spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors.

Media Contact:

Beth Cowley, 0207 979 8022/07583 411 179; beth.cowley@lmco.com

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