Lockheed Martin Corp. Expanding Its I-295 'Cornfield Cruiser' With Navy Contract Extension
By David Madden
MOORESTOWN, N.J. (CBS) -- The "cruiser in the cornfield," along Interstate 295 in South Jersey, is getting a whole lot larger.
Officials today cut the ribbon on a 72,000-square-foot expansion to the Lockheed Martin facility in Moorestown, NJ, whose goal is to keep the US Navy's "Aegis" Combat System up to date with emerging defense system technologies.
Capt. Scott Carlson, the on-site commander, says the idea is to make sure the equipment in this guided-missile system stands up to real-world conditions.
"It's really important for us that we can also do the due diligence of testing that's required before we hand these systems off to our nation's sailors," he tells KYW Newsradio.
Lockheed Martin just won a ten-year extension on its Navy contract in Moorestown, which means continued employment for some 4,000 civilian workers there. And with sales of the Aegis system to foreign governments, additional people are brought on board, including about 100 new hires this year.
