Brevard to get 300 Lockheed Martin ballistic missile jobs

Lockheed Martin Corp. plans to move about 300 fleet ballistic missile program jobs from California to the Space Coast during 2018 and 2019.

Brevard County Commission Chairman Curt Smith disclosed details of Lockheed's plans following a meeting this week in the Washington area with Lockheed officials.

Smith said the jobs will include senior management of the ballistic missile program.

Matt Kramer, director of external communications for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., said the Lockheed staff moving to the Space Coast will work on "mission sustainment" functions — such as testing and maintenance — for the Navy's Trident II D-5 Fleet Ballistic Missile.

The Trident II D5 is the latest generation of the U.S. Navy's submarine-launched fleet ballistic missiles. First deployed in 1990, the Trident II D5 currently is aboard U.S. Navy Ohio-class submarines and British Royal Navy Vanguard-class submarines.

Kramer said the Lockheed Martin has not determined specifically where in Brevard the new Space Coast jobs will be based or the exact timeline of the move. He said most of the jobs are likely to shift to the Space Coast in 2019.

Smith was part of a delegation on a trip coordinated by the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast that also included meetings with Defense Department officials and representatives of space and aerospace companies. Smith said Air Force Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, commander of the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, also participated in many of the meetings.

Smith said Lockheed Martin was looking for greater efficiencies in relocating operations and staff from facilities in Sunnyvale, California, to the Space Coast and Colorado.

Locally, for example, the new operations will tie in with offshore missile testing related to the Naval Ordnance Test Unit in the Port Canaveral area and will work closely with related Lockheed Martin units.

Kramer said the employees moving from California to Colorado will be staff who focus on engineering work for the Trident missile.

In all, Kramer said, about 650 jobs are affected with the moves to the Space Coast and Colorado, which will be completed during in an eight-year period.

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Lockheed Martin currently has nearly 1,000 employees on the Space Coast, working on a range of programs, including the Navy’s fleet ballistic missile program, NASA’s Orion deep space exploration capsule and Lockheed's Astrotech Space Operations subsidiary in Titusville.

In a statement announcing Lockheed Martin's plans to relocate the fleet ballistic missile program within its space systems business area, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Executive Vice President Rick Ambrose said: "Reshaping our fleet ballistic missile program will help us take full advantage of our engineering and manufacturing facilities and centralize key skills, saving costs for the Navy on this critical national security program."

Mathew Joyce, vice president and general manager of strategic and missile defense systems for Lockheed Martin said: "As our business evolves, we're adapting to ensure we deliver the innovation, affordability and performance our customers demand. We've laid out a long-term strategy that will achieve that evolution and position us for the future, while offering our employees time to plan and prepare for the transition."

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Lockheed said in its statement that the moves to locations that "have complementary facilities and employee skill sets, are expected to deliver substantial cost savings, while centralizing mission expertise in key locations."

Lockheed said it "will be working closely with its Navy customer to ensure a smooth transition as people, facilities and equipment move in phases."

Smith said the Lockheed Martin decision is the latest in a series of positive job news for Brevard County.

"Things are really booming here on the Space Coast, and there are a lot of people who want to do business here," Smith said.

In a statement issued Friday, Lynda Weatherman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast, cited the EDC's previous work to retain the Naval Ordnance Test Unit operations on the Space Coast with helping set the groundwork for Lockheed's expansion.

"These 300 jobs would not be coming to Brevard County had we not been successful with this initiative," Weatherman said. "This is a prime example of the long-term benefits EDC projects provide to our economy."

State, Navy celebrate new Cape Canaveral missile facility

In a previous development related to Lockheed's local missile operations, the Navy and Lockheed Martin in January marked completion of renovations to a facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Nearly 200 Lockheed Martin employees who work on the Navy’s fleet ballistic missile program moved into the complex.

The facility, which is known as the Engineering and Operations Building, was built in 1961 for NASA’s first manned spaceflight program, Project Mercury. Lockheed had been renovating the facility since June.

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com, on Twitter at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54.