Lockheed's new head aims to reinvent

With defense procurement spending likely to slow, Lockheed Martin's new chief executive, Robert J. Stevens, is looking beyond the company's traditional arsenal to propel growth, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the Journal, the strategy to pursue software and systems engineering is central to Lockheed's recent string of contract wins that has boosted the United States' biggest military contractor, which had lagged behind rivals Boeing and Northrop Grumman in financial and stock performance.

Stevens told the Journal that he aims to reinvent Lockheed, both in the way its 130,000 employees collaborate and in its image to investors as an integrator of advanced technologies and systems rather than just a builder of planes. "The company has a lot more information- technology content, and even airplanes aren't just airplanes anymore," he said.

General Dynamics, which makes armored vehicles, has seen high growth from information technology and electronics. In managing missile defense and the U.S. Army's modernization, Boeing controls the biggest programs for lead systems integrators, where the main contractor develops the operating network while subcontractors bend metal, the Journal said.

Though about 60 percent of Lockheed's revenues are from aeronautics and electronics, it's also the biggest provider of information-technology services to the government, the Journal said. Stevens intends to expand that business. He was instrumental in trying to acquire software and engineering company Titan, a deal that Lockheed aborted in June.

According to the Journal, Lockheed's recent contract wins show its growing diversity. As of Sept. 30, its order backlog was just 1.6 percent higher than a year ago, but nonaeronautic orders rose nearly 22 percent in the same period.