Lockheed Martin to rename business unit that includes Salina, Owego plants

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) plans to rename its business area that operates plants in Salina and Owego.

The unit, which is currently called mission systems and training, will soon become Lockheed Martin’s rotary and mission systems (RMS) business area, the Bethesda, Maryland–based defense contractor said in a news release issued Thursday.

The name change will be effective Sept. 5 and “does not reflect” any change in the organization or mission of RMS, the firm said.

Lockheed Martin changed the name to “reflect the recent growth” of the business following the acquisition of Stratford, Connecticut–based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and realignment of other parts of the company.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the RMS division employs more than 35,000 people, including approximately 10 percent outside the U.S. to include Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, United Kingdom and other countries.

The RMS portfolio features more than 1,000 programs. They include helicopters, integrated air and missile defense, littoral warfare, undersea warfare, radar, electronic warfare, cyber solutions, C4ISR, and training and logistics systems.

The business area supports the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Missile Defense Agency, Marine Corps and Navy, along with intelligence, civil, commercial and international-military customers.

“The new name captures the breadth of our expanded portfolio and reflects the skills and expertise of the 18,000 new employees who have joined our business,” Dale Bennett, executive VP of Lockheed Martin rotary and mission systems, said in the firm’s release.

Lockheed Martin last November finalized the Sikorsky acquisition, aligning it under the former mission systems and training (MST) business area as “Sikorsky, A Lockheed Martin Company.”

Since then, the division also added new capabilities from Lockheed Martin information systems & global solutions (IS&GS) and missiles and fire control (MFC) technical services, including government cyber-security products, and mission-support services.

The rotary and mission systems business unit has five lines of business, which include C4ISR & undersea systems; integrated warfare systems and sensors; ship and aviation systems; Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company; and training and logistics solutions, the company said.

Lockheed Martin describes itself as a “global security and aerospace company” that employs about 125,000 people worldwide.

The defense contractor focuses on the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced-technology systems, products and services.

The company has more than 4,000 workers between its plants in Salina and Owego, according to the 2016 Book of Lists.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com