Strong international partnerships are still the ambition of Lockheed Martin, says Micky Blackwell, president of the company's Aeronautics Sector.
During a whistlestop one-day visit to Asian Aerospace, he says: "We are looking for partnerships as stepping stones to other things".
Blackwell points to recent link-ups with Australian, Italian and Argentinean companies as examples of the way forward.
Lockheed Martin's moves to increase partnerships are also linked to its efforts to get bigger in the "mud maintenance" and parts business sectors, says Blackwell.
"We want to own the maintenance for the whole lifetime of our aircraft. We have lost the [maintenance on the] C-130 and F-5 and we want to get back in that legitimate market through team work with smaller companies."
Blackwell says that after the Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman merger is completed, the new company will be well placed to work alongside existing upgraders of the F-5, such as Elbit of Israel and Singapore Technologies.
"When we have Northrop Grumman, we will be the proud owners of the F-5 data".
Turning to the European scene, he says Lockheed Martin is encouraging European consolidation because the company wants strong partners.
Proud
"When Europe does consolidate, we want to be the partner of choice for the European market and other markets. I look forward to the time when they are privatised and we can do business.
"That is why we courted British Aerospace as a partner in the Joint Strike Fighter," he says. "That is an extraordinary relationship. They are in on the ground floor, not as subcontractors."
He is cooler about a link-up with Airbus, because of the time it would take to conclude such a deal before the commercial market goes into a predicted downturn in 2001-2002.
"The easiest way for us to get into the commercial market is through our acquisition of Northrop Grumman, so in the next year our focus will be bringing their Boeing work into the fold and then we could open the aperture.
"With Northrop Grumman, our turnover in aeronautics will be $10 billion which is getting us up to competing with Boeing," he says. "Boeing are also some of our best partners, on the F/A-18, B-2 and F-22. It's a strange world we live in."
Blackwell says Lockheed Martin and Boeing recently concluded an agreement to police "fire walls" and co-operation on joint projects, which he believes is a better way to proceed than fall back on government regulation.
Source: Flight Daily News
