Back to news

February 25, 2019 | International, Aerospace

Lockheed unveils new F-21 fighter jet configured for India

Sanjeev Miglani

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin offered India on Wednesday a new combat jet to be made locally, the F-21, in an attempt to win a large military order worth more than $15 billion.

The U.S. defense firm had previously offered its F-16 fighter used by countries around the world for the Indian air force's ongoing competition for 114 planes to be made in India.

But Lockheed, unveiling the plan at an air show in the southern city of Bengaluru, said it was offering India a new plane configured for its needs.

It would carry technologies from its fifth generation planes, the F-22 and the F-35, the firm said.

“The F-21 is different, inside and out,” Vivek Lall, vice president of Strategy and Business Development for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said in a statement.

The company will build the plane in collaboration with India's Tata Advanced Systems, the firm said.

Lockheed is competing with Boeing's F/A-18, Saab's Gripen, Dassault Aviation's Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon and a Russian aircraft for the air force order.

The deal to replace the Indian Air Force's ageing fleet of Soviet-era fighter jets is one of the biggest contracts for such planes in play.

India has a lengthy procurement process, and no decision is expected until well after a national election due by May.

Lockheed has offered to move its F-16 production plant at Fort Worth, Texas, to India, if it wins the order in a boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make-in-India plan to build a domestic military industrial base and create jobs.

It said it expected to export planes from the proposed plant in India on top of the Indian requirements for an overseas market that it estimated at $20 billion.

But the Indian military has had concerns over the F-16 as an old plane and in an earlier competition it lost out to the eventual winner, the Rafale built by Dassault.

But Lockheed said the F-21 could be India's pathway to the stealth F-35 fighter, which has entered U.S. service in one of the world's most expensive defense programs.

“The F-21 has common components and learning from Lockheed Martin's 5th Generation F-22 and F-35 and will share a common supply chain on a variety of components,” the company said.

It said production in India would create thousands of jobs for Indian industry as well as support hundreds of U.S.-based Lockheed Martin engineering, program management and customer support positions.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airshow-india-lockheed/lockheed-unveils-new-f-21-fighter-jet-configured-for-india-idUSKCN1Q90ED

On the same subject

  • Leonardo dévoile le Spartan de nouvelle génération

    November 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    Leonardo dévoile le Spartan de nouvelle génération

    Leonardo a commencé les essais finaux du C-27J Next Generation qui dispose de nouveaux équipements, un nouveau système avionique et des dispositifs aérodynamiques avancés, ceux-ci amélioreront les performances existantes de l'avion. Le premier C-27J de la nouvelle configuration sera livré à un client non divulgué en 2021. Une toute nouvelle avionique L'évolution du C-27J Spartan se base principalement tout autour du tout nouveau système avionique conçu pour se conformer aux exigences de contrôle de la circulation aérienne de prochaine génération, y compris les liaisons de données FANS 1/A+, TCAS 7.1, ILS Cat.II et vidéo améliorée TAWS. Le cockpit de son côté bénéficie de nouveaux écrans d'affichage accompagnés d'un nouveau radar météorologique. L'effort s'est également porté sur l'amélioration des capacités de communication par satellite et radiocommunication. L'équipage bénéficiera par ailleurs d'un nouveau système d'intercommunication. Des ailerettes en bout d'aile Le bimoteur est équipé du mode 5 IFF/ADS-B Out et des modes tactiques de navigation verticale et de pilote automatique de recherche et sauvetage sont disponibles. En outre, d'anciennes boîtes d'interface avionique et des systèmes généraux ont été remplacées par de nouveaux équipements par Leonardo Electronics. Enfin, des ailerettes améliorent l'aérodynamique de l'appareil et sa consommation de carburant, tout en permettant d'augmenter la masse maximale au décollage d'une tonne. La nouvelle configuration de base est également offerte en qualité de rénovation pour les opérateurs actuels qui veulent mettre à niveau leurs capacités de flotte C-27J, qui sont actuellement au nombre de 14 pays. Cet avion de transport militaire peut ainsi emporter jusqu'à près de 5 tonnes de chargement par m2 en soute ou 34 passagers. Il peut également accueillir une vingtaine de civières en configuration Evasan (évacuation sanitaire). https://www.air-cosmos.com/article/leonardo-dvoile-le-spartan-de-nouvelle-gnration-23852

  • L3Harris to lead integration of new space domain awareness system

    February 3, 2022 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

    L3Harris to lead integration of new space domain awareness system

    The new system will modernize the U.S. Space Force's command-and-control capabilities and paves the way for the service to decommission the legacy Space Defense Operations Center.

  • Four Nations To Be Protected With Lockheed Martins Next Generation Radar

    January 17, 2020 | International, C4ISR

    Four Nations To Be Protected With Lockheed Martins Next Generation Radar

    Moorestown, N.J., January 14, 2020 – Through partnerships with the U.S. Government, Spain, Japan, and Canada, Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) solid state radar (SSR) technology will provide front-line defense to nations around the world with cutting-edge air and missile defense capabilities. These nations are part of a growing SSR family of 24 platforms, ushering in the next generation of maritime and ground-based advanced radar technology. The basis of SSR is the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR), which the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) selected Lockheed Martin to develop in 2015 with an on-track delivery set for 2020. In 2019 Lockheed Martin's SSR for Aegis Ashore Japan was designated by the United States Government as AN/SPY-7(V)1. What is SSR Technology? SPY-7's core technology is derived from the LRDR program, which has been declared Technical Readiness Level 7 by the U.S. Government. The technology consists of a scalable and modular gallium nitride (GaN) based “subarray” radar building block, providing advanced performance and increased efficiency and reliability to pace ever-evolving threats. As part of its investment into the advancement of SSR, Lockheed Martin built a Solid State Radar Integration Site to conduct detailed testing to prove the maturity of the system and reduce fielding risk. Scaled versions of the LRDR site will be utilized for future radar programs including Aegis Ashore Japan, Canadian Surface Combatant and MDA's Homeland Defense Radar in Hawaii. Solid state offers powerful capabilities to detect, track and engage sophisticated air and missile threats, including the very complicated task of discriminating – or picking out – and countering lethal objects present in enemy ballistic missiles. The Lockheed Martin SSR uses state-of-the art hardware and an innovative software-defined radar architecture to meet current requirements while providing extensibility features to pace evolving threats for decades to come. Its unique maintain-while-operate capability provides very high operational availability and enables continuous 24-hour/7-day week operation. Solid state radar is a multi-mission system providing a wide range of capabilities, from passive situational awareness to integrated air and missile defense solutions. The combined capability and mission flexibility of Lockheed Martin's SSR has gained the attention of new and current users of the Aegis Weapon System, the world's premier air and missile defense combat suite. Meeting the World's Most Demanding Missions While LRDR is the first program to utilize Lockheed Martin's new SSR building blocks, over the past three years Lockheed Martin has consistently been selected in open competitions to equip an additional 24 platforms in four nations. SPY-7 provides several times the performance of traditional SPY-1 radars and the ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously with the latest proven interceptors. Spain's Ministry of Defense stated its preference for Lockheed Martin's technology for its five F-110 class frigates in 2017 and awarded the ship construction order to Navantia in 2019. These ships will host the first-ever S-band variants of the SPY-7 radar for the Spanish Navy. Production will be a collaboration between Lockheed Martin and Spanish company, Indra. When the frigates deploy in 2026 our SPY-7 variant will be integrated as part of the Aegis Weapon System. The frigates will also incorporate the International Aegis Fire Control Loop (IAFCL) integrated with SCOMBA, the national combat system developed by Navantia. Canada's Department of National Defence also selected Lockheed Martin as the naval radar provider for its 15 Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) ships. Lockheed Martin's IAFCL is integrated with Canada's combat management system, CMS 330, developed by Lockheed Martin Canada for the Royal Canadian Navy's HALIFAX Class ships. The program will make Canada the owner of the world's second largest Aegis fleet, and our SPY-7 radar variant will enable CSC to conduct highly advanced maritime missions for decades to come. Mature, Cost-Effective Systems Ready Now Including LRDR, the 24 Lockheed Martin SSR platforms selected to date represent a total of 91 antennas of varying sizes, collectively composed of over 15,000 subarrays. On LRDR alone, Lockheed Martin has produced an equivalent of eight Aegis shipsets to-date. The U.S. Government's LRDR has a planned service life for decades to come and will be supported and maintained throughout that period. This ensures the U.S. and its allies will have a large and stable base of cost-effective logistics and support for many years in the future. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. View source version on Lockheed Martin: https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2020-01-14-Four-Nations-to-Be-Protected-with-Lockheed-Martins-Next-Generation-Radar

All news