Lockheed Martin Corp

Lockheed Martin Corp. was the No. 1 defense contractor in 1998 for the third year in a row, the Pentagon said Friday. The Bethesda, Md.-based company received $12.3 billion in defense contracts during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. No. 2 Boeing Co., based in Seattle, received $10.9 billion. Lockheed Martin became the No. 1 U.S. defense contractor in 1996 after the 1995 merger of Lockheed Corp. and Martin Marietta Corp. McDonnell Douglas Corp., which merged with Boeing in 1997, had been No.

Lockheed Martin Corp. said its Joint Strike Fighter successfully completed its first flight test Tuesday, advancing the contest for a projected $200-billion defense contract, the biggest in U.S. history. The test came more than a month after rival Boeing Co. demonstrated its version of the JSF. Lockheed Martin and Boeing are vying for a $19-billion contract the U.S. Department of Defense is expected to award next year to develop the plane.

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. has paid $7.1 million to NASA to settle charges it improperly claimed reimbursements from the U.S. space agency, the U.S. attorney in Houston said Tuesday. The deal ends a nine-year investigation by NASA's Office of Inspector General into a Lockheed unit that held a $1.14-billion contract to support the space shuttle program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The contract included a 10-year lease on two buildings owned by Lockheed Martin. The U.S.

Lockheed Martin Corp., the nation's biggest defense contractor that has been beset by plunging profit and problems across its product lines, on Sunday said it signed a contract worth $6.4 billion to sell 80 advanced F-16 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates. The contract, which came after two years of intense negotiations, is also a boon for Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp.

Lockheed Martin Corp., the world's largest defense contractor, will test its missile-interceptor system today after six straight failures, the last of which cost the company a $15-million penalty. Lockheed is developing the Theater High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, to be the Pentagon's primary system for protecting troops, airports, bases and even cities from short-range ballistic missiles.

Lockheed Martin Corp. said it would create a subsidiary to tap the rapidly growing market for satellite-based telecommunications services. The Bethesda, Md., aerospace giant also said it is forming a jointly owned venture with General Electric Co.'s finance unit to launch a satellite system that will offer television and Internet services throughout Asia.

Lockheed Martin Corp. might have to defend against a lawsuit that accuses it of undercutting satellite contracts between a Russian company and a small Los Angeles firm, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The justices unanimously revived a claim by Semtek International Inc., which at one point sought $100 million from defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

Lawyers representing homeowners in toxic contamination lawsuits against Lockheed Martin Corp. have filed a new case adding 550 clients. The third mass lawsuit filed since November brings to about 1,500 the number of residents suing the giant defense contractor over alleged health problems and declining property values that they attribute to decades of toxic releases from the now-defunct "Skunk Works," which built advanced military aircraft.

Anaheim-based CalComp Technology Inc. said Tuesday that it will shut down its operations after Lockheed Martin Corp., its majority shareholder and primary lender, rejected extending its existing credit line. CalComp, which manufactures computer graphics products and employs 250 people in Anaheim, said it hopes to sell off major parts of its business and have an orderly shutdown over the next six months.