Lockheed, Pilatus sign teaming agreement

CANBERRA, Australia, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin and the Australian subsidiary of Switzerland's Pilatus Aircraft have teamed to compete for an Australian Defense Force pilot training system.

The team, which includes support from Hawker Pacific, an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul company, is already performing basic pilot training for the Air Force of Singapore.

"Our team builds on an existing and highly successful relationship between Lockheed Martin and Pilatus Aircraft," said Raydon Gates, Lockheed Martin Australia chief executive. "We have a proven track record of providing a flexible, low-risk solution using the PC-21 aircraft and will leverage this experience to offer a training program that can evolve with mission requirements."

Markus Bucher, Pilatus chief executive officer, said: "It became very clear after a thorough review of potential partners that the existing alignment of Lockheed Martin, Pilatus and Hawker Pacific would deliver the best overall customer outcome, not only for the Australian Defense Force, but also for on-going operational budgets and taxpayers, to deliver best value for money."

The consortium of Lockheed Martin Australia, Pilatus Aircraft Australia and Hawker Pacific is known as Team 21. Details on the pilot training contract they are pursuing were not disclosed.