SUNNYVALE, CA, 19-MAY-00 -- A U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Fleet Ballistic Missile Integrated Product Team has been selected to receive the Department of the Navy's Acquisition Reform Certificate of Excellence for its accomplishments in improving the acquisition of the newest generation of Trident II D5 Missile Test and Readiness Equipment (MTRE). The Certificate of Excellence will be presented to the MTRE Mk 11 Acquisition Team at a ceremony to be held during Acquisition & Logistics Reform (A&LR) 2000 Week, May 22-26. The MTRE Mk 11 team members are from the Navy Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, DC; Space & Naval Warfare System Center, San Diego, CA; and Lockheed Martin Space Systems - Missile & Space Operations, Sunnyvale, CA and Cape Canaveral, FL.

Additionally, the MTRE Mk 11 acquisition success story will be featured by the Navy in a display at the Pentagon Courtyard on May 22 as part of the Office of the Secretary Defense's A&LR Week kick-off event.

The MTRE Mk 11 has been an incredibly successful acquisition program, said Strategic Systems Programs MTRE Mk 11-team leader Darian Pringle. The MTRE Mk 11 system was developed for just 10 percent of the cost of the previous MTRE Mk 10 system. The new system cost only $5 million to develop, whereas the previous system cost $50 million. Additionally, the team was also able to reduce the production unit cost for the new MTRE from $6 million a system to approximately $500 thousand per system.

MTRE is a suite of hardware and software located on-board the Trident Ohio-class submarine that monitors and checks out the Trident II D5 submarine launched ballistic missile prior to launch.

The MTRE Mk 11 program is an engineering effort to redesign the Trident II D5 MTRE. The Navy undertook this acquisition activity 33 months ago because of aging, obsolescence and supportability problems associated with the original, 1970's-80's vintage MTRE Mk 10 system.

The program utilizes modern technology and recent reforms in the defense acquisition system such as the use of open system electronics architectures, best available commercial practices and processes, concurrent engineering and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, to successfully reduce acquisition cycle times and improve system performance, life-cycle affordability and system supportability.

Besides realizing significant cost savings, the team also slashed the development cycle time by 50 percent; reduced the number of components in the system by 94 percent; and, cut the number of spares required to be carried by the fleet on-board the submarine by 70 percent.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems -- Missiles & Space Operations, Sunnyvale, CA, is an operating company within Lockheed Martin Space Systems, headquartered in Denver, CO. It is a world leader in the design, production and integration of systems for space-based telecommunications, defensive and strategic missiles, remote sensing and space science. Its diversified business base ranges from the U.S. government too global commercial customers through its operating unit, Commercial Space Systems.