C-130 News: Lockheed Martin scores $287.2 million contract for another five C-130Js

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Lockheed Martin Corp. secured a $287.2 million contract modification Friday for five more C-130J transport planes — a program that has been scoring a lot of wins as of late.

These five aircraft are being tacked onto a $5.4 billion, multi-year contract for various C-130Js. That contract, which was awarded in November 2015, called for the delivery of up to 83 C-130J variants over the next five years. This most recent award ups that figure to 88.

The additional five were "added during congressional budget submittals,” that have come out of defense budget negotiations on Capitol Hill, an Air Force spokesman wrote in an email.

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The additional five were "added during congressional budget submittals,” that have come out of defense budget negotiations on Capitol Hill, an Air Force spokesman wrote in an email.

Last week, Lockheed won a $10 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to provide up to 100 additional C-130Js until 2026. An IDIQ isn’t a firm order, but rather it allows for customers to place orders against that $10 billion ceiling. That contract would allow for foreign military sales and it will give Congress room to place orders beyond what is included in the multi-year contract. After fiscal 2018, when the multi-year contract expires, it will be the primary vehicle to buy C-130Js until 2026.

Lockheed (NYSE: LMT) is having a lot of success in part because of the versatility of the plane and the need to replace aging transports.

"Lockheed Martin's C-130J is a plane everyone wants because it's so effective in many roles and relatively economical to operate," Rebecca Grant, president of Iris Independent Research, a D.C.-based public policy research organization, wrote to me in an email in November.

It has the ability to perform "airlift and airdrop in rugged environments necessary to anti-terrorism operations,” Grant added, with the U.S. Coast Guard using it for patrol and the U.S. Marines turning it into a refueling plane.

Ben Harper, a partner and head of Boston-based Fairmont Consulting Group’s aerospace practice, called it the "Swiss Army Knife of transport planes.” He added that it also compares favorably to its competitors, the troubled A400M aircraft from Airbus and the less-popular KC-390 from Embraer.

"It’s got a lot it can do and the other programs that might compete with it and occupy the same space just don’t have nearly that same level of track record,” Harper said, adding that the competition doesn’t "have the same number of built-out and proven mission sets and capabilities."

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2016/08/29/lockheed-martinscores-287-2-million-contract-for.html

Image: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2013/may/0514aero-C-130j-million-flight-hours.html

 

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