The implication that Lockheed Martin is looking toward sales to foreign customers is baseless. Lockheed Martin recognizes that any decision regarding F-22 sales overseas must, and should, come from Congress.

Further, Hartung was inaccurate regarding the cost of the F-22. The U.S. Air Force states the fly-away cost of the aircraft at $136.6 million, not the figure quoted in the commentary. In fact, the multiyear contract proposal authorized by Congress provides a greater return on the significant investment already made to develop the F-22. The estimated savings is approximately $225 million over the three-year period of the multiyear contract.

With extraordinary performance, the F-22 remains a healthy program with strong support in the Air Force and in Congress. No deal of the century, as Hartung incorrectly notes, is needed to sustain the F-22. The F-22 has demonstrated exceptional performance during exercises including the first Red Flag Exercise in February as 100 percent of planned sorties were successfully conducted. And last summer during the Northern Edge Exercise, F-22s flew 97 percent of planned missions.

As for the programs mentioned in the commentary that are experiencing difficulties, Lockheed Martin is working with the customer to bring them on track. In the case of the Littoral Combat Ship, Lockheed Martin has been forthcoming with the U.S. Navy about costs and provided regular, detailed cost updates to the service to ensure complete transparency. The U.S. Navy's own studies confirm that all first-in-class ships experience cost increases. We believe that the cost of the LCS-1 ship is consistent with, if not lower, than that of other recent first-in-class ships.

Lockheed Martin is proud of the progress made on LCS. The entire acquisition process -- from concept to first ship in the water -- has taken a little over four years, which is 60 percent faster than conventional shipbuilding timelines.

The portions of the Deepwater Program for which Lockheed Martin is responsible remain on track as the most extensive modernization of the U.S. Coast Guard in the service's history. Our responsibilities include aviation, command and control, logistics -- virtually all elements of the program other than shipbuilding. The record shows that the assets we have deployed under Deepwater are making a positive contribution to Coast Guard missions including search and rescue, drug interdiction and undocumented immigrant interception.

The Coast Guard's decision to assume the lead role as systems integrator for all Deepwater assets is not news. Under our contract, the Coast Guard has always retained the authority to act as integrator and has done so on a number of occasions.

Lockheed Martin, partnered with industry and government, is committed to meeting its October 2009 deadline for Initial Operating Capability for the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter. While this is a very aggressive schedule, at least three years faster than programs of comparable complexity, recent reviews by the U.S. Navy confirm the program is on track to meet the deployment date established by the White House.

Hartung implies that Lockheed Martin needs a shot in the arm with a lucrative international sale. Nothing could be further from the truth. Lockheed Martin continues to record robust earnings in 2006 and the first quarter of 2007. Our business model anticipates changes in the marketplace and emerging opportunities to sustain value for our customers, shareholders and employees. In fact, when we reported our first-quarter earnings in April, we increased our financial guidance for the year.

The 140,000 men and women of Lockheed Martin are keenly aware of the significance and complexity of the work that our customers entrust to us. With 3,000 individual programs -- the majority operating on time and on budget -- Lockheed Martin enjoys the confidence of customers in 75 countries worldwide. In all cases, Lockheed Martin conducts its business to the highest operational and ethical standards.

Dennis Boxx is senior vice president for corporate communications for the Lockheed Martin Corp.

United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.

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