Lockheed Martin has completed the centralization of its Targets and Countermeasures operations in Huntsville, Ala., where the program offices of both the company and the Missile Defense Agency customer are located.

"Centralizing our core program operations enables us to maintain our cost competitiveness," said Dr. Patricia Dare, director of Targets and Countermeasures, Lockheed Martin Space Systems. "This is one more way we are meeting the government's needs for affordability."

Lockheed Martin has moved approximately 100 positions and an integrated system development laboratory from the company's Denver facility to Huntsville, completing a process that began in 2007 with the move of the company's Targets and Countermeasures Program office from Arlington, Va.

Employees relocating from Denver are filling approximately 20 of the positions. The company is in the process of filling the remaining positions, which include software, systems, electrical and mechanical engineers, as well as specialists in a variety of support functions, such as finance, manufacturing and procurement.

Lockheed Martin currently employs approximately 250 employees on the Targets and Countermeasures Program in Huntsville and 60 in Courtland, Ala., the company's target missile production facility.

A group of approximately 20 employees at the company's Denver facility will continue to provide specialized program support, and a Lockheed Martin UK facility in Ampthill, England, supports the program on the design and manufacture of target reentry vehicles.

A leading provider to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency of reliable, threat-relevant target missiles of various ranges to test the Ballistic Missile Defense System, Lockheed Martin has an unmatched 98-percent success rate in 42 out of 43 target missile missions since 1996.

"In addition to the Targets and Countermeasures positions, we also have openings in Huntsville in virtually every engineering discipline and support function across our various programs," said Tim Lingo, senior manager of human resources for Missile Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems.