Navy trims Lockheed Martin's missile launch role

The Navy is taking over management control and reducing Lockheed Martin’s role in the sea service’s largest missile-launching system as part of an effort to cut costs.

Instead of paying Lockheed to acquire and integrate the components of the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System, as it has since the 1980s, the Navy is buying the mechanical launch platform directly from London-based BAE Systems, formerly a Lockheed subcontractor.

Lockheed, based in Bethesda, Maryland, will continue to provide and install electronics, which account for about 55 percent of the missile launcher’s production cost, said Toan Nguyen, the Navy’s program manager for the system. BAE’s portion accounts for the other 45 percent.

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