James Taiclet, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), said the company has accelerated more than $1.1B in progress payments it has received from the Department of Defense to its suppliers to support the defense industrial base and national security efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In this more volatile environment, it is more important than ever before to maintain the operations of the defense industrial base and support our men and women in uniform,” Taiclet said in a statement published Friday.
Lockheed said it will continue to expedite the flow of cash to small businesses and other at-risk suppliers to continue to meet national security commitments.
The company has added more than 8.3K new employees to its workforce since the pandemic started and posted advertisements for over 3.2K positions.
Lockheed’s charitable contributions for community efforts in response to COVID-19 have reached more than $18M. The company has produced over 65K protective gowns and 32K face shields and offered more than 55K meals to underprivileged individuals in local communities.
