Lockheed Martin's view of the future of transatlantic co-operation was outlined yesterday by Robert Trice, senior vice-president of Corporate Business Development, Scott A Harris, president for Continental Europe, and Ian Stopps, chief executive of Lockheed Martin UK.
Trice emphasised that such co-operation would have to be a two-way street, and that the US defence market would have to be opened up. "The sale of the Casa CN235 to the US Coast Guard is a good first step," he said, "and selection of the US101 would be a good test of the process."
The Casa CN235-300M is a long range land-based maritime surveillance, anti-submarine/anti-surface warfare and search and rescue (SAR) aircraft. Two were ordered in May 2003 as part of the Deepwater modernisation programme.
These aircraft are the first in what will be a multi-year, multi-aircraft acquisition, which Lockheed Martin claims will be worth more than $2 billion - the biggest ever order for the maritime CN235.
The company's view is that NATO is fundamentally strong and that the organisation remains as relevant in meeting new threats in the 21st Century as it had been in the 20th Century in deterring aggression. The organisation's participation in the war on terror and in peacekeeping operations alongside US forces has "enabled a mechanism for co-operation, and provides many opportunities for industrial collaboration".
Such collaboration promises to address Europe's capability gaps, and will result in stronger products, while providing European companies with meaningful industrial participation rather than politically mandated offset, which Lockheed Martin regards as an inefficient and artificial construct. Open competition is the most efficient and most highly capable model, the company believes.
The executives cited several examples of Lockheed Martin's transatlantic partnerships, including the JSF (which it claimed is the first global fighter project), the C-130J, which was launched outside the USA, the US101 (competing for selection as the next Presidential helicopter, and for selection by the USMC) and the EADS/Casa CN235, selected by the US Coast Guard.
Source: Flight Daily News
