ORLANDO, FL, 23-MAR-01 -- Lockheed Martin Information Systems is the most recent company in Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) to attain the Systems Engineering Capability Model (SECM) Maturity Level 4 rating. The company received formal notification of the assessment as the result of an independent team's study of the company's systems engineering processes, measuring the maturity of capability levels using the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association's (GEIA) EIA/IS 731.1 standard. The GEIA is a sector of the Electronics Industries Alliance and produces Management and Process standards representing Industry Best Practices. Lockheed Martin Corporation now has six companies formally assessed with SECM standards, with two units rated at level 4 or higher.

This assessment provides Lockheed Martin with credentials for its unparalleled engineering capabilities to meet our customers' most challenging projects, said Lockheed Martin Information Systems President John Hallal. These reviews and the resulting certification maintain our position as a world leader in simulation and training, support and test systems, and information and identification technologies.

The receipt of the EIA rating of systems engineering processes provides Lockheed Martin Information Systems a complementary capability to its SEI Level 4 software assessment attained in June 2000. Lockheed Martin has more high-maturity assessments than any other organization in the world, with 11 businesses at SEI CMM Level 4 or 5.

Accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), EIA provides a forum for industry to develop standards and publications in five major technical areas: electronic components, consumer electronics, electronic information, information technology and telecommunications. The Software Engineering Institute is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Department of Defense and operated by Carnegie Mellon University.