ORLANDO/MUNICH/ROME, 09-FEB-06 --

MEADS International (MI) announced two changes within its management organization on the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program. The changes are effective immediately.

Joining the program management team in Orlando are:

Mertz Hanberry (Lockheed Martin – U.S.) has been named finance director and treasurer of MEADS International, Inc. He has 25 years of experience on a broad range of U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and research and development programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. He joins the MEADS program following the successful financial leadership of the WCMD™ program.

In his MEADS assignment, Hanberry will direct the financial team supporting the design and development program. He will report to Stefano Zalonis (MBDA – Italy), MI business management director. Hanberry succeeds Collin Hiranaka, who has retired after a successful career at Lockheed Martin and six years as MI finance director.

John Levell (Lockheed Martin – U.S.) has been named planning manager for MEADS International. He has 26 years of experience on a broad range of U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and research and development programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, which included positions of increasing responsibility in various lines of business, including Tactical Missiles, Central Planning, Advanced Systems and Strike Weapons. He joins the MEADS program following successful planning support to the Predator program and the WCMD/Strike Weapons Advanced Programs mission area.

In his MEADS assignment, Levell will lead all planning functions and the team that ensures MI’s ability to meet the critical delivery dates of the MEADS program. He will report to Eberhard Flad (LFK – Germany), MEADS planning and control director, and to Stefano Zalonis, MI business management director. Levell succeeds Ron Westbrook, who has retired after a successful career at Lockheed Martin and responsibilities for MI planning that date back to 1994.

MEADS is a mobile air and missile defense system designed to replace Patriot systems in the United States and Germany and Nike Hercules systems in Italy. It also meets the requirements of Germany’s “capabilities oriented” air and missile defense concept.

MEADS will provide capabilities beyond any other fielded or planned air and missile defense system. It will be easily deployed to a theater of operations and once there, will keep pace with fast-moving maneuver forces. When completed, MEADS will be the only air and missile defense system able to roll off tactical transports with the troops and almost immediately begin operations. More importantly, its open architecture will provide for 21st century air and missile defense system-of-system integration capabilities that allow operational mission-tailoring for homeland defense or defense of maneuver forces. MEADS will also provide greater firepower with less manpower than current systems, producing dramatic operation and support cost savings.

In May 2005, MEADS International signed a definitized contract valued at $2 billion plus €1.4 billion for MEADS design and development. A multinational joint venture headquartered in Orlando, FL, MEADS International’s participating companies are MBDA Italia, EADS Deutschland and Lenkflugkörpersysteme (LFK) in Germany and Lockheed Martin in the United States. Together, these companies have focused an international engineering team in Orlando to develop systems and technologies for the MEADS program, which is closely watched as a model for collaborative transatlantic development. The United States funds 58 percent of the MEADS program, and European partners Germany and Italy provide 25 percent and 17 percent respectively.