LONDON, UK, 24 January 2011 - Lockheed Martin UK has received a top supplier award from air traffic control management specialists NATS for the fourth consecutive year.

The company received the coveted NATS Supplier Performance Award in recognition of its support of UK-based air traffic control management.

Lockheed Martin’s contracts with NATS embrace a wide variety of activities including systems engineering, software development, systems integration and hardware installation and maintenance. The Lockheed Martin team maintains and implements upgrades to the NATS Swanwick Air Traffic Control Centre systems as well as providing hardware maintenance services to a significant portion of the NATS operational estate.

Chris Odam, NATS Director of Supply Chain and Facilities Management, commented: “For the fourth year running, Lockheed Martin has again proven to be a very capable and supportive partner to NATS in what has been a challenging year. The achievement of both organisations in separately being accredited to PAS11000 – the Standard for Collaborative Relationship Working (now BS11000) - further strengthens our ability to work together in the future.”

As in previous years, Lockheed Martin achieved a high rating across a number of key areas NATS assessed as part of its Supplier Performance Management (SPM) programme, which includes input from stakeholders across all of the NATS business. A combination of both quantitative and qualitative criteria was used to measure performance, ranging from partnering behaviours and value for money to technical service provision and strategy alignment.

NATS’ SPM programme is a formalised process that benchmarks a supplier’s performance, leading to continuous improvements in the way a supplier and customer work together in partnership.

Mark Cooper, director of Lockheed Martin’s UK Transportation programmes, said: “We are extremely proud to receive this award for a fourth year running.  It demonstrates the continued strength of our partnership with NATS and further endorses our credentials to deliver a safe and cost-effective Air Traffic capability that forms part of the critical national infrastructure of the UK.

“Our close working relationships with NATS stretches back nearly 20 years and it was significant that both organisations became among the first in the UK to achieve the PAS1100 standard, which recognises best practice in partnering and collaboration.”

Notes to Editors

• 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 133,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s 2009 sales from continuing operations were $44.0 billion.