MILLBROOK, UK June 25, 2008

Lockheed Martin UK is showing its innovative new approach to developing blast-resistant deployable accommodations for the first time at this year’s DVD exhibition.

Lockheed Martin’s Kudos cabins are already widely-used by military and humanitarian organisations for emergency accommodation, but now UK engineers have transformed the cabins into units which could provide enhanced shelter from an explosive attack.

Lockheed Martin UK’s Kudos marketing manager Cliff Kimpton said: “Right now many troops on operations simply pile up breeze-blocks around their beds to give them some protection and peace of mind while they sleep. Our newly-developed armoured Kudos cabins could do away with these improvised shelters and provide more protection for troops living in combat zones.”

The newly-developed armoured version combines the best aspects of the Kudos cabins – flat-packed, light weight, simple to transport, easy to assemble, strong and robust – with a novel but highly effective approach to up-armouring.

 “An ingenious design uses the pallet each unit is carried on to provide a platform which covers the Kudos cabin,” added Kimpton. “This is then loaded with steel sheeting, aggregate and hesco-bastion type barriers to create an armoured ‘shell’ around the building to absorb the energy of an explosion.”

The design has already demonstrated its capability under test conditions, withstanding the effects of representative rounds simulating a direct enemy attack.

“Kudos cabins are modular, so they can be used individually or joined together to create much larger spaces,” explained Kimpton. “They each have a lockable door and window and can be easily adapted to take running water, electricity and even satellite communications and air conditioning. Once erected they can be taken down again really easily or left in place for years.”

Lockheed Martin UK is also displaying its Land Environment Air Picture Provision (LEAPP) solution, its Joint Asset Management Engineering Solution (JAMES) system and its newly-developed Advanced Vehicle Architecture (AVA) system at the DVD show on June 25 and 26.

Lockheed Martin UK, a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is a leader in systems integration working on major programmes spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors. Lockheed Martin works with more than 100 business partners and employs over 1700 people at 12 sites across the UK.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.