The Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast (EDC) recognized a significant milestone in Brevard County’s history recently as Lockheed Martin’s Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) Headquarters officially marked its relocation to Titusville, Florida.
This milestone comes nearly fifteen years after EDC efforts played an essential role in retaining the Naval Ordnance Test Unit (NOTU) in Cape Canaveral. The FBM program supports NOTU and its submarine-launched Trident missiles.
In 2005, a federal base-closure commission reversed a Department of Defense recommendation to relocate NOTU to Kings Bay, Georgia retaining nearly 1,000 jobs locally. The presence of NOTU was one of the key factors in the decision to relocate the FBM Headquarters, announced by Lockheed Martin in February 2017.
This move has already led to a commitment to invest nearly $40 million into the Titusville campus and the transition of 350 jobs from Sunnyvale, California. Lockheed Martin has developed, built and sustained six generations of submarine-launched ballistic missiles under the FBM program. The current generation of missiles, designated Trident II D5, are carried aboard the US Navy’s Ohio-class submarines and make up the sea-based leg of the nation’s nuclear triad. They are also carried aboard the United Kingdom’s Vanguard-class submarine as their nation’s sole nuclear deterrent.
During a flag raising ceremony this morning at FBM Headquarters in Titusville, the EDC’s President and CEO Lynda Weatherman joined Rick Ambrose Executive Vice President of Space for Lockheed Martin and government officials including United States Navy Vice Admiral Johnny R. Wolfe, Florida State Senator Tom A. Wright, Representatives Thad Altman and Tyler Sirois, and Brevard County Commissioner Rita Pritchett in welcoming the headquarters and FBM Programs Vice President, Dr. Sarah Hiza, to Florida’s Space Coast.
“This announcement is an accumulation of successful projects and expansions since the EDC announced that NOTU would remain in Cape Canaveral in 2005,” said Weatherman. “80 years from now, the success celebrated today will still be felt on the Space Coast, as an announcement of this magnitude will positively impact generations to come.”
In Lockheed Martin’s official announcement, Hiza stated “we are thrilled and grateful to call Titusville our new home. This region plays a prominent role in the defense industry. I am very proud to represent our program headquarters in this community and continue to provide the highest level of support to our Navy customer. What they do for our nation is critical, and we deeply appreciate the men and women who serve.”