James Taiclet, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), has said the company has expedited payments to 10K suppliers that include 5.9K U.S. small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic and estimated that supply chain invoices will reach more than $1B by the end of this year.
“We consistently monitor COVID-19 impacts and continue to accelerate cash to at-risk suppliers and small businesses, working with our U.S. government partners and suppliers, to meet commitments vital to national security,” Taiclet said in a statement released Friday.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based defense and aerospace firm distributed progress funds from the Department of Defense to subcontractors that support DoD projects amid the pandemic.
Lockheed also partnered with Strategic Vaccines to help expand manufacturing capacity for the FLOVID-20 inhaled treatment for COVID-19 patients and invested in Canadian artificial intelligence technology developer DarwinAI to support the latter’s coronavirus detection technology development work.
The Department of Health and Human Services received air support donations from Lockheed for response and relief missions, Taiclet added.
He added the company has donated over $21.9M to support workers in the frontline as well as first responders and public schools in need of technology resources since March and supplied 93K protective gowns and 54K face shields to over 250 locations nationwide.
