NEWTOWN, Pa., Dec. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today pledged to donate $400,000 to the Washington Crossing Historical Park in Washington Crossing, Pa. The park, which has experienced recent state budget cuts, is visited by more than one hundred thousand tourists each year.

Lockheed Martin's donation will fund the addition of a dedicated education wing at the park's visitor center, which is scheduled for renovation in the latter part of 2010. The donation was announced by Marshall Byrd, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Newtown, Pa. Byrd also pledged, on behalf of the approximate 13,000 Lockheed Martin employees in the Delaware Valley area, a five-year commitment of volunteer in-kind support for the park's maintenance and operations.

The announcement was made at the park's annual Christmas Day reenactment of General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River. In making the announcement, Byrd was joined by U.S. Congressman Patrick Murphy, whose district encompasses both the park and Lockheed Martin's Newtown facility.

"In looking for a way to support the important educational mission of Washington Crossing Historical Park, we sought Congressman Murphy's advice and counsel," Byrd said. "He put us in touch with Doug Miller (Site Administrator, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission), whose enthusiasm and encouragement became key factors in our decision to make this contribution."

"Lockheed Martin also thanks Congressman Murphy for his tireless advocacy on behalf of this park and its new neighbor, Washington Crossing National Cemetery," Byrd added. "He has helped lead our community's efforts to recognize the sacrifices made by America's military veterans. Those sacrifices are commemorated today and will be honored both here and at the cemetery for generations to come."

It was at Washington Crossing that General Washington and the Continental Army crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night in 1776 to attack Hessian mercenaries encamped in Trenton, New Jersey. The surprise attack and victory, detailed in David Hackett Fisher's award-winning book Washington's Crossing, is considered by many historians to have been one of the turning points in the Revolutionary War.

Lockheed Martin's Newtown facility employs about 1,200 people in the production of navigation, weather, and communications satellites for military, civil government, and commercial customers. Recent contracts for the next-generation GPS III system by the U.S. Air Force and next-generation GOES-R weather system by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have helped sustain high-quality jobs in the Bucks County area.

The facility also builds components for the Air Force's Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system, which will provide global, highly secure, protected, survivable communications for warfighters operating on ground, sea, and air platforms, and the U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), which will greatly expand the capacity of UHF communications and aid the military as it increasingly relies on more agile and mobile forces.

The Newtown facility is part of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC), a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation. LMSSC designs and develops, tests, manufactures, and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for national security and military, civil government, and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological, and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; ballistic missiles; missile defense systems; and nanotechnology research and development.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

Media Contact: Dee Valleras, 215-497-4185; cell 215-275-1874; e-mail, dee.valleras@lmco.com

For more information about Lockheed Martin, see our web site at http://www.lockheedmartin.com.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin