Lockheed Martin

WASHINGTON - Lockheed Martin Corp. received approval from the U.S. Department of Defense yesterday to move forward with development of the Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagon's most costly weapon ever. Michael Wynne, acting undersecretary of defense for acquisition, approved the "path forward" for the program, and designs of short takeoff and vertical landing variants of the aircraft, in a memorandum, the Pentagon said. The decision moves the $244 billion development program a step closer to production of the fighters, a family of aircraft intended to have about 80 percent common parts for use by the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied nations.

WASHINGTON - Lockheed Martin Corp. would consider working with European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. if the United States decides to reopen a competition for aerial-refueling tankers, Lockheed Chief Executive Officer Robert Stevens said yesterday. EADS NV, Europe's biggest aerospace company and the parent of Airbus SAS, said it expects the United States to reopen competition for the tanker contract, which originally was given to Boeing Co. Lawmakers scrapped that deal last month after a former Air Force official admitted to discussing a job with Boeing while negotiating the tanker contract, worth about $23 billion.

Baltimore County's first Waterfront Festival, designed to celebrate the east side's renaissance and showcase the area's potential as a tourist draw, is to be held tomorrow, but not without a splash of continuing political acrimony. Organizers say the daylong, family-oriented event will highlight the redevelopment of older communities such as Middle River, Essex and Dundalk while underscoring the area's rich history and looking to the future. The festival will be held on Lockheed Martin Corp.

In The Region Millenium Chemicals' restated results sought by SEC Millennium Chemicals Inc., the Hunt Valley chemical maker being acquired by Lyondell Chemical Co., said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission staff has asked for information on its financial restatements. Last month, Millennium restated results for 2001 through 2003 and the first quarter of this year to correct deferred income-tax calculations related to its stake in Equistar Chemicals LP, a joint venture with Lyondell.

Baltimore County plans to hold a festival next month in Middle River, using fireworks, music and food to attract a crowd to its waterfront, officials announced yesterday. The festival is scheduled Oct. 2 on Martin's Lagoon, on property that is being considered for a major development project. The event also will be a fund-raiser to benefit residents rebuilding from Tropical Storm Isabel, county officials said. Local businesses, including restaurants, the Baltimore County Marine Trades Association and Lockheed Martin Corp.

Robert J. Stevens, a veteran defense industry executive and former Marine who helped guide Lockheed Martin Corp.'s emergence as the country's top military contractor, became its chief executive officer yesterday, taking control of Maryland's largest corporation just as defense spending in America reaches record heights. Stevens' appointment, which was announced in March, was viewed by analysts as evidence that the company's recent stability will continue. After several years of shaky mergers and awkward divestitures in the late 1990s, the company has largely stayed focused on its core defense projects since and landed some of the industry's most-sought-after and lucrative projects.

In Baltimore City Woman stabbed, man, 22, shot in separate homicides A woman described as in her 60s was found dead with multiple stab wounds last night in her apartment - one of two homicides reported yesterday by city police. Shortly after 8 p.m., Northwestern District officers checking a report of a "suspicious condition" found the woman's body in her first-floor apartment in the 2600 block of N. Hilton St. Her name was withheld pending notification of family members. How long the woman had been dead was not known, and police were attempting to determine if she was killed during a burglary and what, if any, property was missing.

MAYBE no Democratic presidential candidate went after big drug companies harder than John Edwards, the North Carolina senator who was named yesterday as John Kerry's vice presidential running mate. Edwards said he would order the Justice Department to investigate "price gouging" by big pharmaceutical outfits. He would permit drug "reimportation," which would undercut manufacturers' profits by allowing U.S. patients to benefit from foreign price controls. He would sharply restrict pharmaceutical advertising.

Glenn J. Austin, a retired Lockheed Martin contracts manager who worked on manned space projects in the 1960s, died of heart failure Monday at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. He was 82. Born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., Mr. Austin graduated from Riverside High School in 1938. He married Rosemary E. Sullivan in 1942. His wife of 60 years died last year. During World War II, he served in the Navy at Yorktown Naval Base in Virginia and in the Pacific as an electrician's mate. Mr. Austin earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Buffalo's Canisius College in 1947 and earned a master's degree in financial management in 1971 from George Washington University.

SAN DIEGO - Titan Corp. shareholders approved yesterday the planned $1.66 billion sale of the military-radio maker to Lockheed Martin Corp., completion of which has been delayed twice by allegations Titan consultants bribed foreign officials. The 55.2 million votes cast in favor of the sale to Lockheed were equal to 98 percent of votes cast and amounted to 66 percent of Titan's 84 million shares outstanding. Lockheed declined to comment on the vote. Investors approved the sale during a meeting at Titan's San Diego headquarters.