WASHINGTON, 15 July 2012. Leaders of defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. headquartered in Bethesda, Md., are cutting 740 jobs in the company's Mission Systems & Sensors (MS2) business units to improve efficiency and affordability as U.S. defense budgets shrink. Lockheed Martin is the largest U.S. defense contractor.

The company last week notified 308 U.S.-based employees they will no longer layoff program in May and resulted in 432 employees voluntarily leaving the company. The combined defense job cuts reduced the total workforce of MS2 by about 5 percent, company officials say.

U.S. defense company leaders have adopted a relatively pessimistic view of prospects for increased defense spending -- especially with automatic defense cuts of $500 billion over the next 10 years will happen on 1 Jan. if Congress cannot agree to controlled cuts.

Clay Jones, chairman and CEO of avionics and defense electronics designer Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for example, said last week at the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, England, that he expects the U.S. defense budget to shrink in 2014 and 2014 no matter who wins the election, incumbent President Barack Obama or Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

“Given the budget pressures facing our customers, Lockheed Martin is examining every aspect of our business to ensure we are as efficient and cost effective as possible in meeting their needs,” says Dale P. Bennett, president of Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Sensors.

“Reducing our workforce is a difficult but necessary decision to position our business for future growth and ensure we remain competitive,” Bennett says.

Lockheed Martin MS2 has about 15,000 employees located at numerous sites around the U.S., Canada, and Australia, including Moorestown, N.J.; Owego, N.Y.; Syracuse, N.Y.; Manassas, Va.; Baltimore; Akron, Ohio; and Orlando, Fla.

The MS2 segment concentrates on ship and aviation systems, radar systems, surface and sea-based missile defense systems, and undersea systems. The company has expertise in radar, sonar, electro-optics, and sensor-processing technologies.

For more information contact Lockheed Martin MS2 online at www.lockheedmartin.com/us/ms2.

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