Lockheed Martin will move 650 jobs to Colorado and Florida over the next eight years as part of the relocation of its fleet ballistic missile program.
The positions coming to Colorado will be focused on engineering and design, while the jobs going to Florida will be related to sustainment and test operations, a spokesman for the Bethesda, Md.-based company said Friday. The exact number of jobs going to each state, though, is not yet known.
The missile program works on the Trident II D5, a submarine-launched missile developed for the U.S. Navy and U.K. Royal Navy. The missiles, carried aboard the Navy’s Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarines, are a key component of the country’s nuclear deterrence capabilities, Lockheed spokesman Matt Kramer said.
“By co-locating common skills, expertise and infrastructure, our goal is to deliver significant cost savings to the Navy while positioning the right people in the right locations to support the future needs of the program,” Kramer said in an e-mail.
The missile program is currently housed in Sunnyvale, Calif. Most affected employees will be offered the opportunity to relocate, the company said.
In Colorado, the relocating engineering and design employees will work on things like electronics, rocket motors and hardware — including efforts to use 3-D printing to manufacture wiring and hardware components for the missiles, Kramer said.
The state is already home to Lockheed engineers and facilities that specialize in space system engineering, research and design. Lockheed Martin Space Systems’ headquarters are in Jefferson County, on the company’s Waterton Canyon campus.
“We are still evaluating options for specific facilities but the positions would be in the Denver metro area,” Kramer said.
