Moorestown's Lockheed Martin To Benefit From $740B NDAA Bill

MOORESTOWN, NJ — The Lockheed Martin facility in Moorestown stands to benefit from some provisions of the $740 billion defense bill the House of Representatives passed on Thursday.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed with bipartisan support and a vote of 316-113. Rep. Andy Kim (D-Burlington, Ocean). Kim voted in favor of the bill. It now heads to the Senate before going to President Joe Biden’s desk for final approval.

“The last place partisan politics belongs is in discussions about our national security, and I’m proud to have worked with colleagues in both parties to achieve significant wins for our service members, their families, New Jersey, and our economy,” Kim said. “From providing billions of dollars to create new jobs and support small businesses in Burlington and Ocean Counties, to achieving a pay raise for all military service members, to making major investments in DoD climate research, I’m proud to have worked in a bipartisan way to get these priorities passed.”

The NDAA annually sets policy for the military, although the funding proposed in the act is not included. Funding comes from the appropriations committees. Congress has passed the NDAA for about 60 years in a row.

The act for the upcoming fiscal year includes $25.866 million for Aegis Ashore Guam, which supports hundreds of engineering and manufacturing jobs at the Lockheed Martin facility in Moorestown.

It directs the U.S. Navy to conduct a study Kim says could help position Lockheed Martin to compete and win contracts that will fund more high-paying manufacturing jobs in New Jersey.

The act also provides funding for the development of a digital low noise amplifier modification to the existing AN/SPY-1 radar, to be done in New Jersey.

It expands the CACI C5ISR project at Joint Base McGuire Dix-Lakehurst, which enhances the capability of U.S. forces to operate from environments where access to GPS is not available.

The bill includes $6.369 billion in continued support for the Virginia-Class submarine program, which supports at least nine small parts manufacturers in the legislative district, including DC Fabricators in Florence, Champion Fasteners in Lumberton, Garvey Precision Machine in Willingboro, and Sea Box in Cinnaminson among others.

Kim worked with Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Burlington, Camden, Gloucester), California Congressman John Garamendi and Texas Congressman August Pfluger on the Put Our Neighbors to Work Act, designed to help local and small businesses by:

• Requiring the Department of Defense (DoD) to give preference to contractors for military construction projects that will use workers from the same state, or a 60-mile radius from where the work will occur.
• Requiring the DoD to publicly post opportunities for local contractors and sub-contractors, alerting small businesses, so they can be aware of opportunities to bid for military contracts.

The act supports families and invests in cybersecurity and innovation surrounding American defense systems. This includes:

• 2.7 percent increase in military pay for all military service members.
• Creating a basic needs allowance to ensure all military families can put food on the table and live dignified lives. Congressman Kim is a cosponsor of the Military Hunger Prevention Act and highlighted hunger as a critical issue among military families in a recent Armed Services Committee hearing.
• The Onward to Opportunity Act, which creates a pilot program at the Department of Defense that expands assistance programing for servicemembers, veterans, and their spouses in finding more and better post-military service career opportunities while also assisting them in transitioning to civilian life.
• Revolutionizing the military’s response to reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault by criminalizing sexual harassment within the Uniform Code of Military Justice and moving prosecution decisions in cases of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and all offenses against children out of the military chain of command.
• Supporting military families by expanding military paid parental leave up to 18 weeks and expanding allowable leave for military foster parents.
• Directing DoD to use strict standards for limiting PFAS chemicals, restricting DoD from purchasing products that contain PFAS, and directing the Secretary of Defense to provide DoD medical providers with mandatory training to deal with the potential health effects of PFAS.
  • These changes build on Congressman Kim’s legislation to phase out the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS, which was passed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2020 NDAA, to protect the health of our servicemembers, their families, and surrounding communities.
• Investing $24 million in DoD climate research.
• Providing an additional $15 million for the GenCyber program, a summer cybersecurity camp for K-12 students and teachers to increase training and interest in cybersecurity skillsets.
• Increasing funding for the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service program from $77 million to $84 million so more undergraduate and graduate students in STEM fields who have already committed to working in national security can access this pipeline for training the next generation of cybersecurity experts.
• Creating a cybersecurity training pilot program at the Department of Veterans Affairs for veterans and members of the Armed Forces transitioning from service to civilian life.
• Encouraging DoD to adopt new technologies by supporting emerging technology adoption training programs and requiring DoD to submit a report to Congress on plans for future training programs. Congressman Kim identified this need in consultation with defense startups and at events like the New Jersey National Security Innovation Summit.

To read the full text of this year's NDAA, click here.