UK Awards LM $5 M for Desert Hawk III UAS

• Desert Hawk III's improved payloads maximize target detection and recognition by providing 360-degree coverage in a common turret package

(Denver, August 24, 2010) -- The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a $5.1 million contract for additional Desert Hawk III unmanned aircraft vehicles.

Desert Hawk III's improved payloads maximize target detection and recognition by providing 360-degree -- daytime and nighttime -- coverage in a common turret package. These latest generation payloads also include a Lockheed Martin-developed navigation system that delivers more refined target position information and superior image stability to the troops.

Awarded by the MoD's Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) organization, the latest contract calls for Lockheed Martin to deliver the Desert Hawk III air vehicles -- which as a result of ongoing obsolescence management and technology advancements in this area feature enhanced 360-degree infrared and 360-degree, 10-times zoom electro optics -- by Fall 2010.

"We are extremely pleased with the enhanced capability that these new payloads bring to Desert Hawk III and the British Army," said Duncan Robbins, program manager for mini-UAV systems, UK MOD DE&S. "Desert Hawk's latest enhancements allow it to operate more effectively in difficult conditions and provide our soldiers with greater situational awareness in a very timely manner."

"The battle-proven Desert Hawk III can operate in high winds, extended altitude and extreme temperatures, making it very effective in areas such as Afghanistan," said Mark Swymeler, a vice president for Lockheed Martin's Ship and Aviation Systems line of business. "Unlike some other UAVs, it is extremely quiet and virtually undetectable beyond 150 meters."

Equipped with steerable, plug-and-play imaging payloads, the Desert Hawk has provided the British Army with greater situational awareness capabilities in Afghanistan since 2006.

The eight-pound Desert Hawk III features an open architecture environment and consists of a light weight, hand-launched, ruggedized air vehicle with snap-on Plug and PlayloadsTM, a portable ground station and a remote video terminal. The snap-on payload capability allows a single operator to swap sensors on the air vehicle in less than one minute to meet immediate and rapidly changing mission requirements.

Source : Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT)