Lockheed wins $478M Navy deal
Lockheed Martin landed a $478M Navy contract to build advanced submarine imaging systems as part of a broader ~ $1B push to automate submarine production and speed output amid skilled‑labor shortages. The award signals defense investment in automation and imaging tech to shore up underpressure production lines. (navaltoday.com) (businessinsider.com)
The award is structured as an indefinite‑delivery/indefinite‑quantity (IDIQ) contract for Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems with options that could raise the total to roughly $1.19 billion and a performance window running through March 2036. (americanmachinist.com (americanmachinist.com) ) The contract document lists a mix of pricing types — cost‑only, cost‑plus‑incentive‑fee, firm‑fixed‑price and fixed‑price‑incentive line items — and cites an initial minimum guarantee funded with $600,000 from the Navy’s FY2025 other procurement account. (deagel.com (deagel.com); navaltoday.com (navaltoday.com) ) The program is identified as the Integrated Submarine Imaging System and is described in procurement reporting as focused on improving onboard situational awareness, sharing video with combat teams, and supporting navigation, surveillance and mission execution. (americanmachinist.com (americanmachinist.com) ) Contract performance and engineering work are slated to be performed out of Manassas, Virginia, where Lockheed’s Rotary and Mission Systems operations are based, with production and sustainment activity scheduled across the multi‑year contract term. (thedefensepost.com (thedefensepost.com) ) The award arrives alongside a Navy push to automate submarine production, anchored by Hadrian’s new Factory 4 — a roughly 2.2 million‑square‑foot automated parts plant in Cherokee, Alabama that opened March 20, 2026 — financed by about $900 million in OBBBA funds plus roughly $1.5 billion in private capital and projected to create up to 1,000 manufacturing jobs. (navy.mil (navsea.navy.mil); defenseone.com (defenseone.com) ) The imaging‑system award and the automation funding sit alongside an enlarged shipbuilding contract posture — including a $15.38 billion modification for General Dynamics Electric Boat to spur serial construction through 2035 — signaling concurrent investment in sensors, supply‑chain capacity and factory automation to accelerate submarine output. (reed.senate.gov (reed.senate.gov) )
