Lockheed Martin employees and local community leaders recently marked the 50th anniversary of the corporation’s sub-assembly plant at Meridian, Mississippi, which began production operations in August 1969 — initially producing the L-1011 jet airliner’s tail assembly.

Since then the Meridian facility has been involved in the production of aircraft components for the JetStar, the C-5 Galaxy and C-141 Starlifter ‘strategic airlifters’, the P-3 Orion submarine hunter, the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, and the C-130J Super Hercules ‘tactical airlifter’ (www.lockheedmartin.com).

Mike Sarpu, general manager of operations at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said: “While these iconic aircraft have made history around the world, we are proud to say that their roots are in Meridian.

"We have relied on the skills and craftsmanship of the Meridian team for 50 years — and will do for many more to come.

"I congratulate the women and men of Lockheed Martin’s Meridian sub-assembly plant on reaching this important milestone.”

Some 150 people working in the 110,000ft² Meridian facility build 50% of the C-130J’s fuselage, and more than 430 CA have been delivered to date.

Final assembly of the aircraft takes place at Lockheed Martin’s site in Marietta, Georgia. Meanwhile, earlier this month Lockheed Martin signed a $3 million charitable commitment to the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering.

The three-year contribution will fund vertical take-off and landing research conducted at the university’s rotorcraft lab, plus high-speed flight experiments up to Mach 8 (6,000mph) at the school’s hypersonic wind tunnel.