Lockheed Martin has announced it will participate in the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) New Medium Helicopter (NMH) requirement, providing hundreds of UK jobs and approximately £470m ($585m) export opportunities.
Announced at DSEI 2023 in London, Lockheed Martin’s proposal outlines its team of UK-based partners and the benefits of choosing the Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter to replace the UK’s aging mixed medium helicopter fleet.
If successful, it is estimated that nearly 40% of total Black Hawk production and assembly will occur in the UK and support an average of 660 UK jobs between 2025 and 2030.
Paul Livingston, Lockheed Martin’s CEO, commented, “The newest generation of the Black Hawk is proven, versatile and ready now. It’s not only the right choice for UK Defence, it’s the right choice for UK industry and it will create a generation of high-skilled jobs here in Britain.”
According to the company, participation in the Black Hawk programme would open the door for UK industry to take part in the development and production of Lockheed Martin’s next generation rotorcraft solutions, creating a potential 45-year pipeline of work and exports for UK companies.
Job creation
As part of the Team Black Hawk announcement, Lockheed Martin signed an agreement with Gosport-based StandardAero as the assembly, testing, delivery, maintenance and integration partner for UK-unique equipment and systems.
“StandardAero is delighted to be teaming with Lockheed Martin UK on this once-in-a-generation helicopter programme. For StandardAero UK it will mean upwards of 175 new, highly skilled, jobs in one of the more economically deprived local areas of the UK, with many more throughout our UK-based supply chain,” said Simon Jones, StandardAero Group managing director, Europe.
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