September 16, 2019 | International, Aerospace
COURTLAND, Ala., Sept. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Making Northern Alabama its central location for Hypersonic Strike Work, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) will establish a new facility for the assembly, integration and testing of hypersonics programs and locate the management and engineering workforce for many of these programs in Huntsville. The Courtland expansion will bring two new buildings in support of Lockheed Martin's portfolio of hypersonics programs. This decision brings 72 new jobs to Courtland and 200 new jobs to Huntsville over the next three years with additional job growth expected.
During an official ceremony in Courtland today, Marillyn Hewson, Chairman, President and CEO for Lockheed Martin, with speakers Senator Richard Shelby, Governor Kay Ivey, Congressmen Robert Aderholt and Mo Brooks, and Rick Ambrose, Executive Vice President of Space for Lockheed Martin, spoke to the shared commitment it takes to expand operations in Northern Alabama and the collaborative effort between government and industry to provide this advanced capability to the warfighter. Rick Ambrose will host an event, later today in Huntsville, to celebrate the increased workforce expansion as part of this effort.
Officials representing the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, US Air Force, US Army and US Navy were in attendance to mark the occasion for the future site of the next hypersonic production facility.
Lockheed Martin has a strong partnership with the state of Alabama that dates back several decades and includes research and development on rockets and space launch vehicles, tactical missiles, space exploration and air and missile defense targets.
Lockheed Martin's Courtland and Huntsville employees are an established part of the community and weaved deeply into the fabric of the economy. The company employs over 2,000 people in the state of Alabama, who support local businesses, charitable organizations and volunteerism to multiple schools for STEM outreach and education.
"The decision to bring hypersonic manufacturing to this region would not have been possible without the support of the State of Alabama, our local partners including Lawrence and Madison counties, the cities of Courtland and Huntsville and Tennessee Valley Authority as well as those elected representatives in Congress," said Scott Keller, vice president and general manager for Strategic and Missile Defense for Lockheed Martin. "On behalf of Lockheed Martin, we are honored to expand our presence in Northern Alabama and watch as the next cohort of innovators take advanced defense technology to levels we once thought were impossible."
"Lockheed Martin has a longstanding relationship with the state of Alabama, and I am proud to see that strengthen even more as they make our state the flagship location for their hypersonic programs," said Governor Ivey. "Both Courtland and Huntsville will gain new jobs, which is always welcome news. I am proud and confident that Alabamians will help advance Lockheed Martin's goals as we begin working towards the advancements of the future."
Lockheed Martin is proud to be an industry leader in the development, testing and fielding of hypersonic systems. Hypersonic Strike capabilities have been identified by the U.S. government as a critical capability that must be addressed in support of the U.S. National Security Strategy.
Lockheed Martin is honored by the partnerships established with the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and DARPA on key programs to meet this critical mission need.
For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com/hypersonics
October 29, 2023 | International, Land
Raytheon and Rafael have teamed for over a decade on Iron Dome, which has more than 5,000 operational intercepts and a success rate exceeding 90 percent.
May 11, 2021 | International, Land
American Rheinmetall Vehicles is investing in its pursuit to build the U.S. Army's Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle by opening up a large facility to aid its design and prototyping efforts.
March 12, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Security
Working with mentors from Sikorsky, three University of Connecticut engineering seniors are translating their classroom education to the field. Electrical engineering majors Kerry Jones and Joshua Steil, and computer engineering major Ryan Heilemann, are collaborating to build and program an autonomous firefighting drone to battle blazes without a pilot's guidance. “In the world today there's a high prevalence of forest fires, like in California, but the problem is of how to safely put out these fires,” says Steil. “So our project, in essence, is to see if we can start putting out fires without a human driver.” Once finished, the drone will carry a thermal imaging camera to identify a fire, object avoidance technology to steer clear of any obstacles, and a softball-sized fire-extinguishing ball that will be dropped over the flames. The system's technology will be tied together through coding language developed by the students, and will operate based on inputted coordinates. While their drone will only be able to put out a campfire-size blaze, the project is meant to prove that this technology is possible, so that much bigger technology can be engineered in the future, says Heilemann. “The idea is that in the future, on a larger scale, there can be a fleet of unmanned helicopters that can go out and put out forest fires, thereby lowering loss of life,” says Steil. While drones are currently used by fire departments across the country, all of them so far have a pilot who navigates the drone from a distance, and most are used for observation, not fire suppression. “The autonomy definitely makes it different,” says Jones, “and the fire-extinguishing ball, for sure.” Teams in previous years have worked on similar projects with Sikorsky, which provided some guidance on what has worked and what has not. The team looked back on previous projects' reports, including last year's team, which was the first to integrate firefighting capabilities into the drone. While the previous team to work on this project used small thermal sensors called thermopile array sensors, Heilemann says these sensors required the previous drone to be only about six feet from the flames, which was too close for real-world applications. His team decided to use an infrared camera, which allows for more distance from the flames. This year's team had the added benefit of working on their project in UConn's brand new 118,000 square-foot Engineering and Science Building, which features three engineering floors filled with faculty and labs focused on robotics, machine autonomy, and virtual and augmented reality. At Sikorsky, the team is working with a recent UConn School of Engineering alum, Jason Thibodeau, deputy manager of Sikorsky's Flight Controls and Autonomous Systems Department. “He's really helpful. We have phone meetings every Monday, and we tell him what's going on, what we're struggling with, and he reasons with us,” says Jones. Adds Heilemann, “He really wants us to figure our way through issues we have, instead of just giving us a direct solution.” Working with Sikorsky also introduced the UConn seniors to new career options. Jones has accepted an offer with Sikorsky after she graduates, in their autonomy lab as part of their Rotary and Mission Systems department. Steil has accepted a job offer with Sikorsky's parent company, Lockheed Martin, in Massachusetts after graduation. “Working with Sikorsky definitely sparked a greater interest looking into the company as a whole,” he says. Heilemann also decided to go into the aerospace industry, and has found a job doing control and diagnostics at another aerospace company. Most importantly, the collaboration was a chance to get some experience with a top company. “In this project, I get to learn so much about Sikorsky and what they do,” says Steil, “and having a company like that so close to home and have them be our sponsor is definitely an added benefit.” https://dronescrunch.com/autonomous-firefighting-drone/