Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Inc., has a new director for its Meridian operation, with Jackson native Karmyn Norwood taking the reins.

    Norwood said her goal for Lockheed Martin is to continue the company’s strong relationship with Meridian and Lauderdale County and to keep to building quality airplanes for the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps.

    The plant, which employs 150 workers at its Northeast Industrial Road location, builds more than half of the Air Force’s C-130J Super Hercules cargo planes before sending them to Lockheed’s Marietta, Ga., plant for final assembly.

    “My goal is for this plant to be a center of excellence for manufacturing,” Norwood said. “Lockheed Martin has invested a lot in the plant here. We want to continue to bring new innovation and modernization to this plant.”

    For Norwood, that means to continue to make the C-130J a standout military transport airplane.

    “It is the workhorse for the United States Air Force,” Rob Fuller, communications director for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said.

    Lockheed Martin is one of the nation’s largest defense contractors with government contracts worth more than $34.8 billion. The company has five different divisions and employs 112,000 people in 75 countries, Fuller said.

    “In aeronautics, we have 21,000 employees, but we also have four other divisions here in the U.S.,” Fuller said. “We have an IT Division, a Missile Fire Control System, the MST Simulators and the Space Station Division. We are currently building the Orion, which will be NASA’s new long range space craft.”

    Lauderdale County District 1 Supervisor Hank Florey said Lockheed Martin has been an important employer in the county.

    “They mean a lot to us,” Florey said. “They’ve been here since the late 1960s and have been a great corporate partner for us for a long time. They are so very important for the defense of our country.”

    Norwood has spent 13 of her 20-year career with Lockheed Martin. She is a native of Jackson who graduated from Provine High School. Norwood earned her bachelor’s degree from Jackson State University and a masters degree in engineering from George Mason University.

    Since joining Lockheed Martin in 2002, Norwood said she has worked with nearly 7,000 engineers, helping to design, develop, test and sustain the Air Force’s F-16 and F-22 fighter planes.

    “The majority of my career at Lockheed Martin has been in the F-22 program,” Norwood said. “I was director of operations there and helped lead the merger of the F-22 and F-16 programs into the integrated fighter group. But I’ve had multiple positions in the company. I was the assistant design engineer for the F-16. What’s so good about this position in Meridian is getting to work on another of our products,the C-130J Hercules.”

    Norwood explained what the Meridian plant actually produces for Lockheed Martin.

    “We build the cargo floor of the plane,” Norwood said. “But we also do so many other sub assemblies. We actually build more than half of the primary structure. So, we have a very important role here. We are the start of the production and it’s so, so crucial in the final assembly in Marietta for the C-130J.”

    Norwood said the Meridian plant can finish its portion of the C-130J in about eight days. About 24 are made every year.

    Fuller said the C-130 has been a steady component of the Air Force’s ability to move cargo since World War II.

    “This is the 60th anniversary of the C-130 program,” Fuller said. “It started with model A and it continued through H. The J model, however, is a world apart from the older aircraft. Our assembly plant in Marietta is the oldest and largest continuous running military production line in the history of the United States.”

    Norwood said because of the federal government’s budget constraints, any further expansion of the Meridian plant is dependent on the Pentagon.

    “Budget pressures drive our business and we adjust accordingly,” Norwood said.