Lockheed Martin, Pilatus To Jointly Compete For Australian Pilot Training Program

Lockheed Martin and Pilatus Aircraft today announced a teaming agreement to compete for pilot training for the Australian Defence Force.

The consortium, known as Team 21, will compete for the AIR 5428 pilot training system program. This team is currently in its seventh year of a 20-year performance-based contract to provide the Pilot Training Basic Wings Course to the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

"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 Defence Force, but also for on-going operational budgets and taxpayers, to deliver best value for money."