Local students will compete in a day-long design and build project based on the capabilities of Lockheed Martin UK’s upgrades to the Warrior land vehicle

FAIRFORD, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, July 5, 2012-- Lockheed Martin UK (LMUK) is launching The Warrior Engineering Challenge at the 41st annual Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), the world’s largest military airshow and top-rated outdoor family event.  The challenge, designed around technology LMUK develops for the British Army's Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle, will bring together Cadets and students aged 13 and 14 from local schools on Friday and Saturday to work in teams to design and create a fully manoeuvrable, tracked land vehicle. 

The challenge is part of a company-wide commitment to inspire youngsters to consider careers in science, technology, engineering or math’s and will be led and mentored by engineering graduates from Lockheed Martin UK’s Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP) partners, including Atlas Composites, Defence Support Group, SciSys, Moog Components Group and Ultra Electronics.  Participating schools include: The Cotswold School, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire; Royal Wootton Bassett Academy, Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire; Carterton Community College, Carterton, Oxfordshire; The Ridgeway School, Swindon, Wiltshire; Malmesbury School, Malmesbury, Wiltshire; Marling School, Stroud, Gloucestershire; Greendown Community School, Swindon, Wiltshire and Balcarras School, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.   

“We take great pride in sharing our skills and knowledge in a fun, interactive manner with young students. In this way, they experience first-hand the exhilarating steps engineers and scientists follow to create products and invent technology for our industry,” said Stephen Ball, Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin UK. 

Over the course of each day, the teams will choose materials to fit within a given budget, work collaboratively under the guidance of their team leader, test the ability of their vehicles and finally compete for the “Champion’s Shield” in the public arena of RIAT where they will need to perform a speed challenge over sand, and endeavour to transport goods from the start to the end of the circuit. Teams will be judged by a panel and the winning team will be announced by

Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President Tom Burbage and all participants will be given gift bags to commemorate the day. 

In its sixth consecutive year of sponsoring TRI@RIAT, the interactive portion of RIAT where the public can participate in various simulations and activities from industry partners, Lockheed Martin UK will also be showcasing its F-35 3D Experience Kinect game.  Interested participants will be invited to ‘become a 5th generation fighter jet.’ Budding engineers will be able to try their hand at flying the aircraft through urban, rural and dessert terrains, controlling its motion through a series of body movements to negotiate obstacles, refuel and ultimately land the aircraft.

About Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin UK, part of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is a leader in systems integration, working on major programmes spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors.  Lockheed Martin UK works with more than 100 business partners and employs over 1,500 people at sites across the UK.