Lockheed Martin Corp $8-bn US defence contract for global logistics support services
12 Aug 2017
Lockheed Martin Corp has won an $8-billion US defense contract for global logistics support services for special operations forces, Reuters reported citing the Pentagon.
The US military often relies on outside contractors to perform support services including logistics at warehouses and depots as also maintenance, modifications and repairs on equipment like airplanes and vehicles.
According to the Department of Defence, the contract will support the Army's Green Berets, Rangers as well as Navy SEALs.
The current support contract for logistics services with Lockheed Martin will expire in 2018, the development will extend contract.
According to the Pentagon, multiple companies had competed for the contract.
Meanwhile, a team of engineers and technicians at the company has completed the integration of the company's first modernised A2100 satellite, known as Hellas Sa-4/SaudiGeoSat 1.
Work on the satellite will move toward final assembly and testing, on track for launch in the second quarter of 2018.
The satellite built for Arabsat and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, will provide advanced telecommunications capabilities, including television, internet, telephone and secure mode communications, to customers in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
''We've modelled this activity in our virtual reality lab hundreds of times, but this is the first time we've performed the integration activity of our modernized A2100 satellite in a clean room,'' said Rick Ambrose, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
This milestone on a modernised A2100 satellite combines hybrid propulsion with payload module and transponder panels. With a combination of electrical Hall current thrusters and liquid apogee engine, the propulsion subsystem serves as the structural backbone of the satellite and is essential for manoeuvring it into its final orbit as also keeping it on station throughout its mission.
The modernised A2100 builds on a flight-proven bus that was the foundation for over 40 satellites in orbit today. Under the current contract the company will build another five modernised A2100 satellites.
