Lockheed Martin has inaugurated a $16.5-million engineering hub in North Alabama to integrate additional capabilities supporting the US Missile Defense Agency’s Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) program.
The Missile System Integration Lab (MSIL) will be leveraged for manufacturing, testing, and assembly of the long-range ballistic missiles being developed under the effort.
Furthermore, the 25,000-foot (2,322 square meters) center will incorporate a separate infrastructure that will focus on sustaining the digital capabilities associated with the NGI’s integration processes.
MSIL is located at Lockheed’s existing facility in Huntsville, which celebrated 60 years of operations in May. The site added 200 roles in 2022, making its overall workforce approximately 1,800 as of 2023.
“Lockheed Martin is committed to North Alabama and this facility is further evidence of that,” Lockheed Martin Space Executive Vice President Robert Lightfoot said.
“We are pleased to celebrate adding an advanced facility to our Huntsville campus today – the same year we mark 60 years in the Rocket City supporting our customers.”
Investment in Future Homeland Missiles
The new laboratory will apply decades of Lockheed’s specialization to further support the US missile defense initiatives across the product lifecycle and flight phases.
“This facility serves as a testbed to prove out our hardware and software integration, adding new levels of digital capability, agility and connectivity with our customers,” Lockheed Martin NGI Vice President Sarah Reeves said.
“It is another example of Lockheed Martin’s investment in the technology and advanced facilities critical to reducing risk for our NGI program. The MSIL brings us even closer to flight testing and production of our interceptor, which will revolutionize US homeland missile defense.”
Meanwhile, Lockheed will break ground on two facilities in Courtland before 2024 to complement the Huntsville site’s mission capabilities. The planned centers consist of a missile production space and a payload manufacturing center.
