Ampthill, Bedfordshire, July 8 2010: Lockheed Martin UK and Jankel Armouring Ltd. have worked together to improve the safety of soldiers in the Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill engineers worked with Jankel to install battle proven mine resistant seats as part of the Lockheed Martin Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP) solution to improve the safety of the soldiers in the turret. Both companies made private venture investments in this activity. At a recent MoD organised mine blast trial it was demonstrated that these seats and their fitment to the Warrior turret will make troops safer.

“Lockheed Martin recognises the value in working with small and medium sized companies to bring their technology to the front line”, said Stephen Ball, Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin UK. “Our strong relationship with the customer and the supply chain enables customer problems to be realised and solved in innovative ways. Because Lockheed Martin’s WCSP turret is based on re-using the current Warrior turret structure this improvement to soldier safety can occur ahead of the WCSP

“Lockheed Martin recognizes the power of our supply chain”, continued Stephen Ball, Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin UK. “We regularly engage with our suppliers to find innovative solutions for our customers and to bring battle winning and life saving technologies from the supply chain to the front line.”

“Lockheed Martin UK is fully committed to the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme and provides the best possible solution to the customer. We continue to actively engage with our supply chain partners to bring technology from Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) to ensure that our troops have the best possible equipment for completing their missions” said Alan McCormick, Vice President and Managing Director of Lockheed Martin UK – Ampthill.

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. The organisation works with more than 100 business partners and employs over 1600 people at sites across the UK.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 136,000 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 2009 sales of $45.2 billion.