Joint Strike Fighter:
In late 2001, Lockheed won the bid for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme, securing an initial $19bn development contract for the $200bn project.[6] It is the world's largest-ever military aircraft project. The claim of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Programme is that “the JSFs advanced airframe, autonomic logistics, avionics, propulsion systems, stealth, and firepower will... [provide] the most affordable, lethal, supportable and survivable aircraft ever to be used by so many warfighters across the globe.”[7] In 2001, the UK became an official partner in the programme at the cost of contributing $2bn. This was followed in 2002 with the partnerships of Italy for $1bn, the Netherlands for $800m, Turkey for $175m, Canada for $150m, Australia for $150m, Denmark for $125m, and Norway for $125m. 2006 marked the first test flight of the JSF programme and production is well underway. Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems are partners with Lockheed in the programme. Also, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce have developed the engine for the programme. Delivery of the JSF is scheduled to begin in 2009 with 2,593 aircraft for the US and UK armed forces.[8]
F-16 fighter:
Lockheed produces the ubiquitous F-16 Fighting Falcon, an aircraft which Lockheed calls the "world's premier multi-role fighter chosen by 24 countries around the world"[9] and now boasts of having achieved its 4,300th delivery milestone in 2006.[1] In fact, Lockheed believes that over its lifetime the F16 will have more foreign sales than all other western fighter aircraft combined. F-16 customers include: Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and UAE in the Middle East; Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand in Asia; and Greece and Turkey in NATO.[10] In May 2002, the US Air Force finalised a $280m contract with Lockheed to build ten F-16s for Chile under the US Foreign Military Sales programme.[11] In April 2003, the Polish government signed four contracts worth $3.5bn for 48 F-16s.[12] Apparently Poland purchased the F-16s using $3.8bn in loans from the US.[13] A total of 67 F-16's were delivered worldwide in 2006 and a contract was signed with the Pakistani Government for 18 new aircraft and an additional 18 aircraft option.[1]
Missiles:
Lockheed, through Missiles and Fire Control, is a major manufacturer of missiles including Hellfire, Javelin, Longbow and Predator. The AGM-114 Hellfire anti-armour air-to-surface missile is deployed on Bell AH-1W Super Cobra and Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters.[14] A thermobaric variant of Hellfire was used in Iraq in 2003. Hellfire missiles are commonly used in Iraq to this date. The most recent occurence was on 16 June 2007 when attack helicopters fired hellfire missiles at anti-Iraqi forces, killing all six of the insurgents.[15] Other weapons include Rafael-designed AGM-142 'Popeye' missiles, which were reportedly dropped on cave complexes in Afghanistan by US Air Force B-52s.[16] In 2006, the Australian Ministry of Defence purchased the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, marking the first international sale of the stealthy missile.[1]
Nuclear Weapons:
Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the nuclear Trident II Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) deployed on the USS Ohio and UK Vanguard nuclear-powered submarines. In 2002, Lockheed secured a $248m follow-on production contract for 12 Trident II D5 Ballistic Missiles for the US Navy.[17] The company is also involved in the design, production and testing of nuclear weapons with Scandia National Labs.[18]
Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD):
Lockheed Martin is the overall 'BMD System' systems integrator with Boeing. It is the sole partner with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency in the production of the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system designed to intercept medium-to-long range missiles. THAAD is simply a missile system that is able to locate, aquire, and destroy incoming ballistic missiles before they re-enter the atmosphere and pose an increased threat.[19] However, THAADs success is quite debatable. Lockheed also produces the Patriot (PAC-3) missile. In early March 2003, the US Army gave Lockheed a $100m contract for 212 PAC-3 for use in the 2003 Iraq conflict[20] and has received many contracts since from the US. There are several nations today that are on the verge of purchasing PAC-3 missiles, such as India, Taiwan, and Japan; and The Netherlands is already operating PAC-3. Lockheed is also engaged in the design and the building of launchers of 'kill vehicles' for land-based BMD. It is also the prime contractor for SBIRS-High, an early warning satellite system for BMD.
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