Lockheed Martin joins MTC as Tier 1 member

Image courtesy MTC

Sir Rick Thompson, KCB, CBE, Managing Director of Defence at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, said: “Lockheed Martin joining the MTC as a Tier 1 member sends a clear signal about the strength of the UK’s defence industrial base and our innovation ecosystem as it continues to grow in response to an increasingly uncertain world.

“By working with partners like Lockheed Martin, we can help companies across the supply chain adopt the technologies they need to compete, scale and seize the opportunities created by the government’s Defence Industrial Strategy as a driver of growth.”

Specific projects conducted in collaboration with the MTC will focus on delivering scalable, adaptable and agile manufacturing with reduced costs and lead times for customers. The efforts will concentrate on additive manufacturing, automation, augmentation and digital integration, addressing common challenges such as accelerating the delivery of new technologies to the front line.

The membership is also intended to accelerate SME technology readiness levels, helping emerging concepts progress more rapidly toward deployable solutions. The effort aligns with Lockheed Martin’s SME Unite initiative which has grown to include over 180 British companies.

Headquartered in London, Lockheed Martin UK – the UK arm of Lockheed Martin Corporation – contributes around £2 billion to the national economy each year and sustaining around 26,000 British jobs: 2,000 directly and 24,000 more across 800 supply chain partners, more than 500 of which are SME businesses.