Super Hercules For Sweden? Lockheed Martin Presents Its Offer
The American arms and aeronautics giant, Lockheed Martin, may soon increase the sales of its C-130J-30 aircraft in Europe. On February 6, Lockheed Martin and the Swedish MilDef Group signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the offering of the Super Hercules to bolster Swedish Air Force (Svenska flygvapnet) airlift capabilities.
Tony Frese, vice president of Business Development for the Air Mobility & Maritime Missions line of business at Lockheed Martin, said:
“There’s a natural adjacency between MilDef and Lockheed Martin as we specialize in supporting truly tactical mission demands with advanced, proven and integrated solutions. Aligning our expertise with MilDef strengthens Lockheed Martin as we expand our relationships with Swedish industry to generate jobs and economic benefits, while also supporting Sweden’s air power mission through our C-130J-30 Super Hercules offering.”
The Swedish MilDef Group was founded in 1997 and delivers world-leading IT solutions, providing military-grade hardware, software, and services that shield and protect critical information streams and systems. The partnership offered by Lockheed Martin would encourage the cooperation in the area of aeronautics in regards to the company’s global production. The document serves as an additional incentive for the Swedish government to grant the contract for the delivery of a new tactical airlift platform.
Daniel Ljunggren, CEO MilDef Group, noted:
“The partnership underpins the importance of industrial collaboration to provide the end customer with the best solution possible. We are truly honored to be selected by Lockheed Martin as a local partner for this important program and look forward to working together.”
Stockholm is currently interested in modernizing its aircraft fleet with five new medium cargo aircraft and an additional air tanker. Another of the companies that is seeking to secure the contract is Embraer. Back in September 2023, Brazil’s Defense Minister, Jose Mucio, was negotiating potential sales of the C-390 aircraft.
To date, 540 C-130Js have been delivered and certified by over 20 airworthiness authorities, with the Super Hercules global fleet reaching almost 3 million flight hours. The C-130 platform is one of the most widely used military aircraft with many variants of the aircraft in Lockheed Martin’s portfolio.