GLOUCESTER, England, July 13, 2017 – A new facility designed to help tackle cyber-crime in the UK has opened in Gloucester as part of a £3 million investment by Lockheed Martin.

The Cyber Works centre is dedicated to developing UK solutions to national security risks and will support the government’s National Cyber Security Strategy.  

Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest aerospace and defence company has long been a leader in the fields of cyber security and intelligence, having pioneered the development of the Cyber Kill Chain®, a method for cyber network defence that has been broadly adopted across industries and sectors. The company is a top provider of capabilities to defence and intelligence communities around the world and also operates facilities to defend its own networks across 70 countries.

The new facility in Gloucester, which employs 90 people, will enable Lockheed Martin to work more closely with its UK partners to share knowledge and best practice, undertake Research & Development and deliver cutting edge capabilities.

The opening of the centre follows the announcement earlier this year that Lockheed Martin would support the UK government’s ‘CyberFirst’ scheme to inspire and support young people considering roles in cyber security. The Cyber Works centre is designed not only for delivering cyber capabilities to UK government but also supporting the development of skills and careers in cyber security and intelligence to further build UK sovereign capability.

Peter Ruddock, Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin UK, said: “Cyber security is one of the most challenging issues that countries face and Lockheed Martin is uniquely placed to help develop solutions to protect our national security. Our Cyber Works centre will draw on our extensive expertise in this area and act as a hub for collaboration with government, industry, academia and international partners on Research & Development, skills and training.”

Lockheed Martin’s Cyber Works underpins the three pillars of the National Cyber Security Strategy (Defend, Deter, Develop), the Defence Cyber Programme and the recent UK-US Memorandum of Understanding on cyber.  

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond MP, who is Chair of the NSC Cyber Security Committee, said: “Britain is a world leader in cyber security and I welcome Lockheed Martin’s investment to explore cutting-edge solutions that will help bolster our defence from online-attacks.

“We have witnessed recent attempts to undermine our digital infrastructure - including a cyber-attack on Parliament, the very heart of democracy. And we are clear the UK must continue to keep up with the scale and pace of the threats it faces, which is why we are investing £1.9 billion in cyber-security.”

Minister for Defence Procurement, Harriett Baldwin MP, who opened the new facility in Gloucester said: “With our National Cyber Security Strategy, Britain is a world leader in the field and the opening of today’s cutting-edge centre is a great example of how partnerships with industry are at the heart of that strategy. Together we are developing solutions to national security risks.

“We are already leading in NATO with support to offensive and defensive operations in the fight against Daesh and complex cyber threats, and I’m also delighted that this centre will further boost the UK’s cyber capabilities.”

As well as investing in the new facility, Lockheed Martin also plans to participate in the National Cyber Security Centre’s ‘CyberInvest’ scheme to support cutting-edge cyber security research in the UK.  Lockheed Martin will explore the potential of contributing time on a cyber range capability to the Research Institute in Trustworthy Industrial Control Systems.