Lockheed Martin delivers offsets proposal for Indian MMRCA tender

Lockheed Martin delivered its offset proposal for the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program today. The comprehensive proposal details a wide range of projects including investment, manufacturing, export creation and joint development. "Lockheed Martin is committed to working with our industrial partners and Indian defense industry to develop long-term, high-value projects that bring technology and sustainable business to India," said Orville Prins, Lockheed Martin's Business Development Vice President. As the world's leading performer of successful offset programs, Lockheed Martin has a long history of delivering on commitments. Lockheed Martin has established four F-16 production lines outside of the United States. Additionally, the company has successfully achieved more than $37 billion in offset program credits in 40 countries, all without default or penalty. A proven cornerstone of these programs is the ability to provide transfer of technology to program partners. "Partnering with Lockheed Martin provides India the opportunity to develop advanced defense technologies, manufacturing capabilities and defense systems. Additionally, India will benefit by leveraging the strength of the F-16IN industrial team, which includes many of the world's largest and most innovative companies, all ready to work with Indian industry in developing world-class aerospace and defense technologies," said Prins. Today's offset proposal submission is the second part of India's request for proposals for the MMRCA. The first submission was the program proposal itself in which Lockheed Martin proposes to build the most technologically advanced F-16 ever conceived, uniquely tailored to meet or exceed all of the requirements of the Indian Air Force. "No other operational multi role strike fighter in the world today will compare to the F-16IN proposed by Lockheed Martin," said Prins. "The F-16IN will be a unique configuration of the F-16, designed to address every requirement specified in India's RFP. The F16 is already the most reliable, maintainable, affordable and safest multi role fighter in the world. The F-16IN will be even better". The F-16IN will be an advanced derivative of the most combat-proven multi role strike fighter available in the international marketplace today. Twenty-four countries have selected the F-16 as their fighter aircraft of choice, with 14 of those countries selecting the aircraft for follow on buys an unprecedented 52 times. The F-16IN has been especially designed to include a multitude of cutting-edge technologies such as a modern, full-color, all-digital, glass cockpit; the APG-80 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar; the F110-GE-132A engine for advanced, high-thrust; a large weapons inventory; a highly effective electronic warfare suite; and conformal fuel tanks to significantly extend range and persistence. The aircraft also includes advanced survivability features such as superior agility, excellent pilot situational awareness, buried fuel lines and critical systems redundancy. The F-16IN is designed to provide outstanding front-line capability, unprecedented reliability and an extremely low total cost of ownership. Key systems of the design exceed requirements by as much as 75 percent.