Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is responding to the uncertainty surrounding three of its major product lines by drawing attention to its recent performance record and hinting that there may yet be reason for optimism.
US military planners are preparing to unveil a new strategy document under the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), and news leaks have described potentially deep cuts to Lockheed’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) project and done nothing to raise hopes of returning the company’s C-130J and the Lockheed/Boeing F/A-22 to their planned procurement levels of only a year ago.
While mindful of the potential impact of the review, Lockheed executives insist they are focusing on the only thing they can control – meeting their contractual obligations today. “Perform, perform, perform,” says Ralph Heath, president of Lockheed’s Aeronautics business, which was valued at nearly $12 billion in 2004. “We have our act together and we’re firing on all cylinders,” he says.
For 2005, Lockheed can point to signs of dramatic progress on the F-35, F/A-22 and C-130J after turbulent development periods. The first F-35 pre-production aircraft is nearly 70% complete on Lockheed’s assembly line in Forth Worth, Texas, with its vertical tails installed last week, and first flight is on track for late 2006. The first F/A-22 squadron is due to become operational at Langley AFB later this month, while the C-130J may soon be cleared to perform its full mission envelope, including combat airdrops, after completing a recent operational evaluation.
Those facts form the heart of Lockheed’s case for not only surviving the pending QDR, but also partly reversing last year’s reductions to the F/A-22 and C-130J programmes, believes Heath. Any programme that hopes to survive must answer two essential questions, he says: “Do you have a product that’s relevant and are you performing to expectations or exceeding them?”
The Department of Defense last year halted the F/A-22’s production run beyond 2008, reducing planned aircraft from 277 to 179. However, Lockheed’s F/A-22 programme manager Larry Lawson doubts the full reduction will be made and says more aircraft could be purchased. Lawson says the US military should keep the F/A-22 production line active at current levels until the JSF’s service entry date for the US Marine Corps in fiscal year 2013. That would mean an additional outlay of more than $12 billion and the production of at least 72 more F/A-22s. “I am optimistic that the right decision will be made”, he says.
STEPHEN TRIMBLE/FORT WORTH & MARIETTA
Source: Flight International
