Lockheed Partners with NANA

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT - Analyst Report) partnered with NANA Development Corporation to compete for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Development and Sustainment Contract, which issued a draft proposal on May 14.

Under the GMD program, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency plans to work at the Fort Greely in Alaska and Huntsville in Alabama. Additionally, it proposes to work at Eareckson Air Station, Alaska; Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; and Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. The contract will entail development, manufacturing, test, training, operations support and sustainment support.

The Missile Defense Agency plans to issue a final proposal for the GMD Development and Sustainment Contract this summer, with the contract award expected in 2011.

This partnership between Lockheed Martin and NANA represents a win-win for the GMD program and the state of Alaska, given both companies’ experience and expertise in providing services to the U.S. Army and the federal government.

For the GMD contract, both companies plan to put their experience and expertise in action for ensuring the reliability and readiness of the GMD element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System, which defends the U.S, its deployed military forces, friends and allies against a limited attack by intermediate- and long-range ballistic missiles.

NANA's Sivuniq and Akima Logistic Services will work together to provide logistics management, engineering and supply support services at Fort Greely and in Huntsville.

Lockheed Martin's credentials for GMD Development and Sustainment include more than 30 years of experience in missile defense development, production, testing and fielding, more than 50 years of experience in strategic weapon system operations and sustainment, and award-winning performance-based logistics expertise.

Lockheed Martin remains a key player within the military space and continues to benefit from strong defense spending. The company is a world leader in systems integration and the development of air and missile defense systems and technologies, including the first operational hit-to-kill missile. Lockheed’s customer base includes the U.S. Government, foreign governments and other commercial buyers. The company makes significant contributions to most of the major U.S. missile defense systems and participates in several global missile defense partnerships.

Lockheed Martin has the potential to grow in the future based on Obama Administration’s focus on Smart Power application and cyber security. The company’s total backlog at the end of fiscal first quarter 2010 was $75 billion.


Lockheed Martin is scheduled to release its second quarter results of fiscal 2010 on July 27, 2010. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter currently stands at $1.78, lower than the year-ago quarterly earnings of $1.88.

Despite all this, we retain our Neutral recommendation on the Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) stock, as we believe that the company’s valuation already reflects the above-mentioned positives.