US based defence and aerospace firm Lockheed Martin’s Space division has been in talks with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Indian private sector firms in the space domain to explore collaboration opportunities. The company is looking out at specific areas for collaboration including of satellites, sensors and payloads, ground stations, mission solutions etc.
Besides, the company also plans to establish their first-ever aircraft heavy maintenance centre in India to bolster the ecosystem of the C-130J aircraft. Noteworthy, Lockheed Martin already manufactures the empennage (tail assembly) of the ‘C-130J’ aircraft in India and also assembles wings of the company’s fighter aircraft, and exports them both for final assembly and integration onto the airframe.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) currently operates 12 C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, the first of which was ordered in 2007 at a cost of up to US $1.1 Billion approximately.
