Lockheed Martin signs deal to modernize Albania’s coastal surveillance system

TIRANA, Aug. 22 – The US firm Lockheed Martin signed a $17 million deal on Tuesday to build Albania’s maritime surveillance system. The U.S.-based company will install command and sensor centers with radars that will collect data for defense and law enforcement officials to identify vessel trafficking and control security along Albania’s Adriatic and Ionian coasts. “The surveillance system will help Albania identify all vessels in the seas, make it more efficient in the fight against trafficking, and also increase Albania’s cooperation with NATO in the fight against terrorism,” Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu said at a news conference. “We will provide our advanced technology and capabilities to meet the many missions of Albania and to support safety and economic development initiatives,” said Denise Saiki, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for integrated programs. The $17m agreement was first approved in 2005, by the socialist government of former Prime Minister Fatos Nano. The document was then modified and finally adopted by Sali Berisha’s cabinet this month. “This investment is in the framework of the programs for increasing regional integration, and is part of the strategies of the Albanian Armed Forces to prevent possible negative phenomena in the coastal areas and the country’s sea territory,” the Council of Ministers said in a statement. Authorities are establishing a new structure that will deal with implementation of the contract. Lockheed Martin also is undertaking the modernization of Albania’s air traffic management infrastructure, under a contract extension approved last year. The company already performed a rapid refurbishment of the decades-old infrastructure in time to handle air traffic during the 2004 Olympics in neighboring Greece. The overhaul is part of the country’s National Airspace Modernization Project. The renovations include a new air traffic control operations building, airport control tower, long-range radar, communications and navigation aids, and new air traffic automation computers and displays. The effort also includes additional training for controllers and engineers and other infrastructure modernization. Future work includes integration of the Skyline system with new communications, navigation and surveillance capabilities that will link the air traffic system to other airports in the region.
The Albanian army is under a reform program along with the country’s efforts to join NATO by 2008.