Lockheed Martin Has Commanding
Position in Asia-Pacific Region

Asian Aerospace 2000 -- Lockheed Martin's F-16 Falcon is by far the most numerous fighter aircraft in Asia, with more than 500 in service throughout the region.

And that level of penetration underscores the company's leading position in Asia-Pacific.

"We are the No. 1 defense contractor in Asia," Bob Young, Lockheed Martin's president for the Asia region told Show News. "From F-16s in Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and New Zealand to satellites almost everywhere; from P-3s in Japan and Korea to C-130s all over the place. Then there are the missiles and radars..."

The company is here at Asian Aerospace to demonstrate its commitment to the region as future programs increasingly require partnerships and offsets of up to 140%. It now counts more than 250 international meaningful relationships, up from 200 a couple of years ago, and international business accounts for 22% of its portfolio.

Major programs in Asia-Pacific include the KTX-2 light fighter/trainer in Korea, and the F-2 fighter in Japan. In addition, Lockheed Martin is bidding for a stake in Korean Aersopace Industries.

Young noted the five big markets are Korea, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. These countries are currently having to decide whether they really want to be in the aerospace industry. "Singapore Technologies seems pretty aggressive," said Young, "and Korea has decided it wants to be in it in a big way. But Australia is having to decide whether it wants to be a player or to let it alone."

While those are the hot markets, Lockheed Martin is also focusing on China, where it has sold air traffic and vessel management systems, and is expanding its Gameco joint venture in aircraft maintenance with China Southern. "MRO is a growing area for us," Young noted. As is China in general for everything but defense products.

The commercial side of Lockheed Martin will play an increasingly important role in the region, even though the company will be supporting F-16s there for another 35 years, according to Bob Hammond, vice president for South Asia.

"For example, we have responsibility for information technology support for both Gateway and Nike worldwide. We have already established that level of support in Malaysia for Gateway, now we are doing it for Nike."

And some Lockheed Martin swords are being beaten into plowshares. One example: truck driving simulators developed for the Singapore military from tank simulators are now seen as a potential hot item in the U.S. for commercial truck operators.

"This is a very dramatic illustration of military-developed technology moving into the commercial sector," said Hammond.

Another big area for Lockheed Martin is naval systems. It sees great potential in the region, especially in Australia, and intends to compete to upgrade the combat systems in Singapore's four submarines over the next five to10 years.

By John Morris