AMPTHILL, 13 November, 2012 - Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill has made significant progress in meeting the design challenges of the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP) over the past year.

The £1 billion programme will introduce major improvements to the current Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle, including fitting and integrating the CT40 weapon system, as well as an open electronic architecture system and improved armour protection. 

 “We are integrating a number of new technologies into the existing platform around space, weight, height and power and we are making good progress on these fronts,” WCSP programme manager Colin Gilding explained. “Our focus is to ensure that the technology is mature by the time we reach Critical Design Review, which will be followed by firing trials with men in the loop in 2014.”

Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill is on target to meet all its design milestones during 2012 as it works towards completion of the demonstration phase and the subsequent start of production in 2016. The anticipated in-service date for WCSP is 2018.

The most recent milestone saw Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill conduct System Architecture Design Review this month and design work will now continue to further reduce risk.

Some £2.5m. has already been invested in Lockheed Martin UK’s Ampthill facility to support WCSP. The latest addition is a £1 million motion test rig that will be used for turret stabilisation testing, turret servo testing, human factor assessments, training and shakedown testing. The rig can accommodate payloads up to eight tonnes and replicate typical automotive dynamic loading conditions.

The rig will speed up development time by substituting a laboratory environment for remote track tests and save the costs of putting a real vehicle on a test track.

“The rig makes use of technology developed for intensively used aircraft flight simulators and provides a high degree of accuracy in replicating operating environments,” said Colin Gilding. “It also means that we will be able to carry out round-the-clock testing if required.”

Leading suppliers on Lockheed Martin’s Warrior Transformation Team include Ultra Electronics; the Defence Support Group; SCISYS; Rheinmetall Defence; Curtiss Wright; Thales UK; Moog; Meggitt; Jenoptik ESW, Elbit Systems Kinetics, Lorica/Plasan, CTA International; and Caterpillar UK.

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 2,000 people at sites across the UK.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 120,000 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 net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.