DALLAS, May 15, 2019 – The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $10.5 million contract to develop a new modular pod for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets. The new pods will replace the depleting inventory of M26 rocket pods and support the increased production of GMLRS rounds.
The modular pod is designed to allow for reloading of individual rocket tubes as they are expended, whereas the original GMLRS pods are discarded after use. The pod will be able to fire the GMLRS Unitary and Alternative Warhead variants, as well as the developmental Extended-Range GMLRS rockets and future rounds.
“The new pods will be compatible with both the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and MLRS M270 family of launchers,” said Gaylia Campbell, vice president of Precision Fires and Combat Maneuver Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “These new pods will improve reload operations and assure our warfighters have adequate rounds available to them when they are most needed.”
The modular pods will be produced at Lockheed Martin’s Precision Fires Center of Excellence in Camden, Ark. Ground testing will begin this fall, with a planned flight test before the end of the calendar year. The first deliveries of the new modular pod are anticipated in the fall of 2021.
For more than 40 years, Lockheed Martin has been the leading designer and manufacturer of long-range, surface-to-surface precision strike solutions, providing highly reliable, combat-proven systems like MLRS, HIMARS, the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and GMLRS to global customers.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
FILE PHOTO: Lockheed Martin is seen at Euronaval, the world naval defence exhibition in Le Bourget near Paris, France, October 23, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
(Reuters) – Lockheed Martin Corp reported a better-than-expected 47 percent jump in quarterly profit on Tuesday and raised its annual profit forecast, helped by strong demand for its missiles and fighter jets, sending its shares up more than 5 percent in pre-market trading.
U.S. weapons makers have been expected to benefit from stronger global demand for fighter jets and munitions and higher U.S. defence budgets in fiscal 2020 as they announce first quarter earnings this week.
Lockheed’s Missiles and Fire Control business, which makes missile defences like the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), was one of its best-performing units.
On April 1, the unit was awarded a THAAD interceptor missile contract worth $2.4 billion, some of which are slated to be delivered to Saudi Arabia, which could boost earnings for the current quarter.
Overall, the Bethesda, Maryland-based company said its earnings rose to $1.70 billion, or $5.99 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $1.16 billion, or $4.02 per share, a year earlier. That was partly helped by a $75 million dollar boost from additional tax deductions on foreign military sales.
Excluding that one-time gain, Lockheed reported $5.73 per share profit, well ahead of the $4.34 per share that Wall Street had expected, on average, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Lockheed’s overall net sales for the quarter rose 23 percent to $14.34 billion. The company’s sales backlog grew to $133.5 billion, up 3 billion over the quarter.
Operating margins at the aeronautics division, Lockheed’s biggest, fell to 10.5 percent in the first quarter from 10.8 percent a year earlier, but sales were up 27 percent to $5.5 billion on demand for the F-35 jet and some classified contracts.
The United States is considering expanding sales of Lockheed-made F-35 fighter jets to five new nations including Romania, Greece and Poland as European allies bulk up their defences in the face of a strengthening Russia, a Pentagon official told Congress in early April.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington D.C. and Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Bill Rigby)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., March 21, 2019 – The Sikorsky-Boeing SB>1 DEFIANT™ helicopter achieved first flight today at Sikorsky’s West Palm Beach, Fla., site. This revolutionary aircraft, developed by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company [NYSE: LMT], and Boeing [NYSE: BA], will help inform the next generation of military helicopters as part of the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift program.
“The design and development of DEFIANT has revealed the capability
advancement that is truly possible for Future Vertical Lift,” said David
Koopersmith, vice president and general manager, Boeing Vertical Lift.
“Clearly, the performance, speed and agility of DEFIANT will be a game
changer on the battlefield and we look forward to demonstrating for the
U.S. Army the tremendous capabilities of this aircraft.”
With its two coaxial main rotors and a rear mounted pusher propulsor,
DEFIANT is unlike production rotorcraft available today. It represents a
leap forward in technology to achieve the U.S. government’s desire for
vast increases in speed and range while improving maneuverability and
survivability in a cost-effective way. DEFIANT aircraft’s use of X2™
Technology will allow the Army to penetrate from strategic standoff and
exploit gaps created in complex Anti-Access Area Denial systems against
near-peer adversaries.
“DEFIANT is designed to fly at nearly twice the speed and has twice
the range of conventional helicopters while retaining the very best, if
not better, low-speed and hover performance of conventional
helicopters,” said Dan Spoor, vice president, Sikorsky Future Vertical
Lift. “This design provides for exceptional performance in the objective
area, where potential enemy activity places a premium on
maneuverability, survivability and flexibility. We are thrilled with the
results of today’s flight and look forward to an exciting flight test
program.”
The helicopter is participating in the Army’s Joint Multi-Role-Medium
Technology Demonstrator program. Data from DEFIANT will help the Army
develop requirements for new utility helicopters expected to enter
service in the early 2030s. This flight marks a key milestone for the
Sikorsky-Boeing team and is the culmination of significant design,
simulation and test activity to further demonstrate the capability of
the X2 Technology.
X2 Technology is scalable to a variety of military missions such as
attack and assault, long-range transportation, infiltration and
resupply. DEFIANT is the third X2® aircraft in less than 10 years.
About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Two fully assembled HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopters (CRH), built by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (LMT), are preparing for their maiden flights, which will occur before mid-year at the Sikorsky West Palm Beach site in Florida.
Two HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopters are at the Sikorsky Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, in preparation for flight test. Photo courtesy of Sikorsky.
Both aircraft, which are being built for the U.S. Air Force, were transported late last year to West Palm Beach following final assembly at Sikorsky’s facility in Stratford, Connecticut. The aircraft test readiness review was completed in October 2018. The CRH HH-60W flight test team is currently preparing both aircraft for flight by conducting final installation of instrumentation and ground run testing. This marks formal entry into the flight test program that culminates in Ready Assets Available (RAA), allowing the Air Force to declare Initial Operational Capability (IOC).
“Having these initial HH-60W helicopters in West Palm Beach for flight test is an exciting time for the Sikorsky team. It is the first step toward a low rate initial production decision later this year, which will allow Sikorsky to provide a constant production flow of aircraft to the warfighter,” said Greg Hames, Sikorsky director, Combat Rescue Helicopter program. “This is the point in the program when Sikorsky begins providing new aircraft into the warfighters’ hands, initiating transition to the vastly more capable and reliable HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter.”
The first of the two HH-60W aircraft will enter flight test with the new Tactical Mission Kit. The integration of sensors, radar, and multiple defense systems will bring added intelligence into the cockpit, enhancing pilots’ situational awareness to complete missions, which is key to improving aircraft and isolated personnel survivability. Sikorsky’s HH-60W team completed the System Configuration Test Readiness Review milestones for the Tactical Mission Kit last year.
The HH-60W hosts a new fuel system that nearly doubles the capacity of the internal tank on a UH-60M Black Hawk, giving the Air Force crew extended range and more capability to rescue those injured in the battle space. The CRH specification drives more capable defensive system, vulnerability reduction, weapons, cyber-security, environmental, and net-centric requirements than currently held by the HH-60G.
“Our team is working every day to build and deliver a superior quality helicopter to the U.S. Air Force for this critical mission,” added Hames. “Both Sikorsky and the Air Force remain committed to achieving a low rate initial production decision this year and getting this much-needed aircraft to our air men and women out in the field.”
A total of nine aircraft will be built in Connecticut during the Engineering Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the program ― four EMD aircraft and five System Demonstration Test Articles. The Air Force program of record calls for 112 helicopters to replace its aging HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
AVALON,
Australia (Reuters) – Boeing Co on Wednesday unveiled an unmanned,
fighter-like jet developed in Australia and designed to fly alongside
crewed aircraft in combat for a fraction of the cost.
The
U.S. manufacturer hopes to sell the multi-role aircraft, which is 38
feet long (11.6 metres) and has a 2,000 nautical mile (3,704 kilometre)
range, to customers around the world, modifying it as requested.
The
prototype is Australia’s first domestically developed combat aircraft
since World War II and Boeing’s biggest investment in unmanned systems
outside the United States, although the company declined to specify the
dollar amount.
The
Australian government is investing A$40 million ($28.75 million) in the
prototype programme due to its “enormous capability for exports,”
Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne told reporters at the Australian
International Airshow.
Defence
contractors are investing increasingly in autonomous technology as
militaries around the world look for a cheaper and safer way to maximise
their resources.
Boeing rivals like Lockheed Martin Corp and Kratos Defence and Security Solutions Inc are also investing in such aircraft.
Four
to six of the new aircraft, called the Boeing Airpower Teaming System,
can fly alongside a F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, said Shane Arnott, director
of Boeing research and prototype arm Phantom Works International.
“To
bring that extra component and the advantage of unmanned capability,
you can accept a higher level of risk,” he said. “It is better for one
of these to take a hit than for a manned platform.”
The
Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in the United States said last
year that the U.S. Air Force should explore pairing crewed and uncrewed
aircraft to expand its fleet and complement a limited number of
“exquisite, expensive, but highly potent fifth-generation aircraft” like
the F-35.
“Human
performance factors are a major driver behind current aerial combat
practices,” the policy paper said. “Humans can only pull a certain
number of G’s, fly for a certain number of hours, or process a certain
amount of information at a given time.”
MULTI-MISSION CAPABILITIES
In
addition to performing like a fighter jet, other roles for the Boeing
system include electronic warfare, intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance alongside aircraft like the P-8 Poseidon and E-7
Wedgetail, said Kristin Robertson, vice president and general manager of
Boeing Autonomous Systems.
“It
is operationally very flexible, modular, multi-mission,” she said. “It
is a very disruptive price point. Fighter-like capability at a fraction
of the cost.”
Robertson declined to comment on the cost, saying that it would depend on the configuration chosen by individual customers.
The
jet is powered by a derivative of a commercially available engine, uses
standard runways for take-off and landing, and can be modified for
carrier operations at sea, Robertson said. She declined to specify
whether it could reach supersonic speeds, common for modern fighter
aircraft.
Its
first flight is expected in 2020, with Boeing and the Australian
government producing a concept demonstrator to pave the way for full
production.
“I
would say we are some years away from exports, we are probably years
away from it being in operation here in Australia,” Pyne said. “It is
designed to be a cheaper platform, a shield if you like around the more
expensive platforms, to protect our servicemen and women who might be on
a Poseidon or a Wedgetail or a F-35A.”
Australia,
a staunch U.S. ally, is home to Boeing’s largest footprint outside the
United States and has vast airspace with relatively low traffic for
flight testing.
The
Boeing Airpower Teaming System will be manufactured in Australia, but
production lines could be set up in other countries depending on sales,
Arnott said.
The United States, which has the world’s biggest military budget, would be among the natural customers for the product.
The
U.S. Air Force 2030 project foresees the Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint
Strike Fighter working together with stealthy combat drones, called the
“Loyal Wingman” concept, said Derrick Maple, principal analyst for
unmanned systems at IHS Markit.
“The
U.S. has more specific plans for the wingman concept, but Western
Europe will likely develop their requirements in parallel, to abate the
capabilities of China and the Russian Federation and other potential
threats,” he said.
Robertson
declined to name potential customers and would not comment on potential
stealth properties, but said the aircraft had the potential to sell
globally.
“We
didn’t design this as a point solution but a very flexible solution
that we could outfit with payloads, sensors, different mission sets to
complement whatever their fleet is,” she said. “Don’t think of it as a
specific product that is tailored to do only one mission.”
($1 = 1.3914 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Jamie Freed; additional reporting by Gerry Doyle; editing by Gerry Doyle)
ABU
DHABI, Feb 18 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates on Monday awarded
Raytheon Co. a 5.7 billion dirhams ($1.55 billion) contract to supply
its air force with platform systems to launch missiles, a UAE military
spokesman said.
The
agreement was signed at the week-long IDEX military exhibition in Abu
Dhabi and followed the award on Sunday of a 1.3 billion dirhams contract
to Raytheon to supply the UAE with patriot missiles.
The
UAE armed forces signed a total of 7.2 billion dirhams in contracts on
Monday, including 5.8 billion dirhams with international companies,
Brigadier General Mohammed al-Hassani said, speaking through a
translator.
The UAE has signed a total of 12 billion dirhams in contracts since the IDEX exhibition started on Sunday, he said.
Lockheed
Martin, Germany’s Diehl Defence, and Sweden’s Saab on Monday launched
at IDEX the Falcon air defence weapon system, billed as a replacement to
the Hawk system used by countries in the Middle East.
Falcon
was developed in response to a UAE request for a replacement for the
Hawk system and talks are underway to sell it to the Gulf state, Scott
Arnold, Lockheed Martin’s vice-president and deputy head of Integrated
Air and Missile Defense said.
Weapons
sales to the UAE have come under scrutiny over the past year due to the
country’s involvement in the Yemen war that has killed tens of
thousands of people and pushed the country to the brink of starvation.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are leading a military coalition, which includes local forces drawn from Yemeni factions, that is trying to restore the internationally recognised government ousted from power in 2014 by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.
($1 US = 3.6728 UAE dirham)
(Writing by Alexander Cornwell. Editing by Jane Merriman)
Earlier this year, NASA awarded $250,000 to Lockheed Martin to create an aircraft capable of silently breaking the sound barrier (“Low-Boom flight program”).
On Nov. 16, the company LMT, -3.39% started production of the experimental QueSST (Quiet SuperSonic Transport) aircraft. This elegant vehicle can cruise at Mach 1.42 (1,510 km/h or 940 mph) and is capable of reaching 55,000 feet (16,800 meters), creating a low 75 Perceived Level decibel (PLdB) thump. This means that when the airplane breaks the sound barrier, it creates noise equivalent to the sound of slamming the car door.
Let the shareholders rejoice: Lockheed Martin‘s (NYSE: LMT) F-35 Lightning II fighter jet contracts are getting bigger — and bigger.
In September, Reuters reported on a Pentagon deal to buy what it called at the time “the biggest batch yet” of Lockheed Martin’s joint strike fighter – 141 fighter jets valued at $11.5 billion. To win such a big order, Lockheed lowered its average F-35 cost to $81.6 million. With engine and other incidental costs factored in, flyaway costs were a bit higher. Lockheed’s F-35B variant flyaway cost $115.5 million, its F-35C cost $107.7 million, and the F-35A ended up at $89 million. Still, as Lockheed noted at the time, this contract offered the “lowest per-aircraft price in program history,” which undoubtedly helped Lockheed seal the deal.
Big as that sale was, however, the contract Lockheed just won easily eclipses it.
Starting May 3, 2019, Lufthansa will offer its first direct flight between Frankfurt and Austin, Texas. This will be the airline’s third nonstop to Texas, adding to Dallas/Fort Worth and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The flight will be operated by an Airbus A330-300, with service operating five times a week. Flight LH 468 will not operate on Tuesday or Thursday, and will have a flight time of about ten hours.
In addition to Austin, Lufthansa is also adding service between its Munich hub and Bangkok, Thailand. The route will begin operating on June 1, 2019, and will be flown by a new Airbus A350-900. Flight LH792 is scheduled to operate on a daily basis.
In other Lufthansa news, the airline announced it will hold “Fly Through Time: A celebration of the Golden Age of Aviation” on October 14, 2018 from 11am to 5pm in New York, NY.
The year was 1958. It was the Golden Age of aviation and Lufthansa was leading the way. The comfort, class and style of a trip on board Lufthansa’s Lockheed Super Constellation L-1649A aircraft was second to none. Every detail was thought of. Passengers dressed to the nines for travel. The flight was an event.
On October 14, New York City will be given the chance to Fly Through Time with a one-day immersive, innovative experience celebrating of the Golden Age of flight and the birth of Lufthansa‘s Senator Service on board the iconic Super Constellation aircraft, affectionately known as the “Super Connie.”
At the Fly Through Time experience, New Yorkers will be able use the power of augmented reality technology to see the Super Constellation virtually on the streets of SoHo, and dress themselves in the 1950s fashions of the Super Connie’s stylish passengers and crew. And of course, guests will enjoy the iconic sophistication of the ‘Senator Service’ First Class lounge in the skies, recreated for the perfect selfie.
We look forward to welcoming you on board the Fly Through Time experience, a celebration of the Lufthansa’s remarkable heritage.
Fly Through Time October 14, 2018 11am-5pm Duarte Square 6th Ave & Grand Street New York, NY
And of course, guests will enjoy the iconic sophistication of the ‘Senator Service’ First Class lounge in the skies, recreated for the perfect selfie. #FlyThroughTime
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 1 (Reuters) – U.S. planemaker Boeing and Brazil’s Embraer are in talks to set up an assembly line to build KC-390 military cargo jets in the United States, Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico reported on Monday.
In July, the two planemakers announced a deal to give Boeing an 80 percent stake in Embraer’s commercial aircraft arm, marking the biggest realignment in the global aerospace market in decades.
At the time, the companies also announced a deeper sales and services partnership on the new KC-390 military cargo jet through a separate defense venture that they said was likely to eventually receive a joint investment.
According to the report on Monday, which did not detail how the paper obtained the information, the two companies intend to create a defense-related joint venture to install the factory, which would be the second to produce the plane.
Such a partnership would give Boeing a newly designed, U.S.-built tactical transport plane to sell directly against rival Lockheed Martin’s workhorse Hercules C130.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The move would allow the planemakers to grow their collaboration in the defense realm, after Boeing’s original takeover bid snagged on Brazilian concerns about it gaining control of national defense programs. (Reporting by Alexandra Alper Editing by Susan Thomas)
