Lockheed inks $57M contract with U.S. Navy; work to be done at Salina plant

SALINA — The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) a $57 million production contract to upgrade the fleet’s electronic-warfare defenses against anti-ship missile threats. 

Lockheed staff will perform work on this contract at its facility on Electronics Parkway in Salina, according to a company news release. The plant, which employs about 1,900 people total, houses a new electronic-warfare system test facility.

Under this production contract, Lockheed Martin will upgrade the AN/SLQ-32(V)2 system — found on all U.S. aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and other warships with key capabilities to determine if the electronic sensors of potential foes are stalking the ship — for Block 2 of the Navy’s Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP).

“The SEWIP Block 2 upgrade will ensure the AN/SLQ-32 system continues to outpace the threat and establishes a framework to easily install future upgrades,” Joe Ottaviano, SEWIP program director for Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, said in the release. “By using commercial-off-the-shelf components, we provide additional cost savings and ease of maintenance for sailors.”

Block 2 is the latest in a succession of improvement “blocks” the Navy says it’s pursuing for its shipboard electronic-warfare system. This will incrementally add new defensive technologies and functional capabilities, according to the Lockheed release.

In 2009, the Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to develop SEWIP Block 2. In January 2012, the company teamed with Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN), the original developer of the AN/SLQ-32, to pursue the Navy’s competitive SEWIP Block 3 program. A formal Navy request for Block 3 proposals is expected later this year, Lockheed said. 

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 120,000 people worldwide.

Lockheed Martin’s net sales for 2012 totaled $47.2 billion, up from $46.5 billion in 2011, according to its annual report.

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