Schumer: Defense-spending bill benefits Lockheed’s Owego site

OWEGO — The Owego plant of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) will benefit from more than $333 million in funding for the U.S. Air Force’s combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopters.

The funding, which is part of a $1.1 trillion spending bill that President Obama signed on Jan. 17, will create and sustain about 250 jobs at the Owego plant, which will work on those helicopters.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer made the announcement during a Friday appearance at the Owego location of Lockheed Martin, the largest defense contractor in the U.S.

Bethesda, Md.–based Lockheed Martin has worked with Stratford, Conn.–based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) in submitting a joint bid to produce the CSAR helicopters for the Air Force.

Schumer spoke to Eric Fanning, Under Secretary of the Air Force, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to ensure that a new fleet of CSAR helicopters was still part of the Air Force plan and that Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky would handle the production work, Schumer’s office said.

Lockheed’s Owego plant employed more than 2,500 people as of mid-November, following 65 layoffs at the facility. The job cuts were part of almost 600 layoffs it executed that month in its Mission Systems and Training business in the U.S.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com