Northrop Grumman wins NAS Fallon contract

FALLON - Lockheed Martin Systems Management has provided technical support to NAS Fallon since 1984, but that will change Monday when new contractor Northrop Grumman, a major defense company, takes over.

The contract was agreed upon by representatives for Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center in Corona, Calif., which negotiated on behalf of NAS Fallon.

Naval Surface Warfare Center spokeswoman Roberta Spieler said the Northrop Grumman contract has a one-year base followed by four one-year options.

Neither representatives for Northrop Grumman nor the U.S. Navy would comment on the dollar figure agreed upon in the contract or if any other bases besides NAS Fallon are involved.

Northrop Grumman representatives have not yet publicly indicated what their transition plan is with respect to Lockheed Martin employees at Fallon, and none offered comment about the contract details or any technical services they would provide to NAS Fallon.

According to Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Jeanine Zeitvogel, the company employs approximately 118 union-affiliated workers at the Naval Air Station.

They are represented by the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers-Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA).

Although Northrop Grumman is set to start phasing in operations at the base next week, NAS Fallon Public Affairs Officer Zip Upham said he does not believe there will be much, if any, turnover of current Lockheed employees at the base.

"To slick the entire slate and start from scratch and start trying to hire enough people that are good at what they do, particularly some of the technical aspects of the contract, it's almost unimaginable to do it that way," Upham said. "These people are very hard to find, and from what I've seen in the past, they stay."

Northrop Grumman provides technological services in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology.

The company has more than 125,000 employees and operates in all 50 states, as well as 25 countries, and serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.

n Contact reporter Burke Wasson at bwasson@lahontanvalleynews.com