Lockheed Martin wins $80.2 million U.S. Navy contract for MK 41 vertical launching systems

Posted by Courtney E. Howard

BALTIMORE, 14 June 2011. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) won a $80.2 million U.S. Navy contract to provide MK 41 Vertical Launching Systems (VLS) for use on DDG 51 Class Aegis destroyers. The MK 41 VLS missile launch system, installed below deck onboard surface ships, provides capability to fire a variety of missiles, including anti-air, anti-submarine, surface-to-surface, and strike. Lockheed Martin will also provide launcher spares, upgrade kits, and installation equipment under this firm-fixed-price contract.

"MK 41 VLS will continue to be one of the Navy's premier weapon systems well into the 21st century as the system continually evolves to meet the challenges of increasingly complex emergent threats," predicts Toan Nguyen, MK 41 VLS program manager in the U.S. Navy's Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems. "We have effectively demonstrated the capability to integrate numerous missile types into the MK 41 VLS platform to meet the Navy's mission requirements."

"The MK 41 VLS is combat proven with more than 3,500 successful missile firings," says Colleen Arthur, director of Lockheed Martin's Integrated Defense Technologies business. "We have supported this system for over 30 years and have leveraged its modular configuration and open architecture to continually upgrade it."