Lockheed Martin: 60 years and still growing

HUNTSVILLE – In 1963, Lockheed broke ground on a building on Bradford Drive in Huntsville, in area that was little more than a patchwork of cotton fields and watercress farms.

One of the five original tenants in what is now Cummings Research Park, Lockheed Martin (the company merged with Martin Marietta in 1995) is celebrating 60 years this month of driving growth and innovation from its Huntsville campus.

Along with its 57-acre CRP location, Lockheed Martin has additional facilities across North Alabama, including a missile assembly plant in Courtland, with a workforce of nearly 2,500 employees in the region.

And the company is still growing, adding 200 jobs in North Alabama last year and committed to developing a strong talent pipeline across Alabama, investing in key training programs, and supporting the local communities.

The economic impact Lockheed Martin has had on Alabama includes $3 billion in sales and climbing, $1 billion in supplier dollars, $414 million in payroll and over 3,000 working employees in Alabama including 640 veterans.

Furthermore, Lockheed Martin plans to open a $16.5 million Next Generation Interceptor Missile System Integration Lab in Huntsville this year.

“At 60 years and counting, Lockheed Martin is one of Huntsville’s outstanding legacy partners,” said Mayor Tommy Battle. “As their employment grew from 50 workers to 1,800, the company became a key player in successful defense and space efforts at Redstone and the Marshall Space Flight Center.

“Congratulations to Lockheed Martin for their instrumental role in creating and maintaining Huntsville’s reputation as the Rocket City.”

Currently ranked No. 55 on the prestigious 2023 Fortune 500 list of the largest 500 companies in the U.S. ranked by total revenue, Lockheed Martin is an industry leader in development, security, and operations-driven software engineering known as DevSecOps, for the aerospace and defense industries.

From Huntsville, Lockheed Martin now supports programs including the U.S. Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, Black Hawk helicopter and Future Vertical Lift; Missile Defense Agency’s NGI; Terminal High Altitude Area Defense; Command and Control Battle Management and Communications system; and NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle, as part of the agency’s flagship Mars Sample Return program.

Lockheed in Alabama has a mission portfolio that includes the development and production of the Sikorsky Blackhawk UH-60M, THAAD, the Javelin anti-tank weapons system and hypersonics.

“Lockheed Martin is dedicated to helping ensure our customers can stay ahead of evolving threats and deter conflicts, and I’m proud of our growing presence as a mission partner in this community for the past six decades,” said Jeff Kepley, vice president of Missile Defense Programs and Huntsville executive site lead at Lockheed Martin.

“We remain committed to innovation, investment, and customer and community partnerships here in North Alabama, enabling us to deliver leading 21st century security technologies with excellence as we enter our next era in Huntsville.”