Avalon Update with Sikorsky Australia & Lockheed Martin Space

Australian Defence Magazine Podcast

In the next of our Avalon 2025 episodes, Grant McHerron talks initially with Cliff Kyle, General Manager of Sikorsky Australia, and then he catches up with Rod Drury, Vice President International with Lockheed Martin Space.

Cliff steps us through his career with Navy and then industry, before discussing Sikorsky Australia's work to sustain the current MH-60R Romeo fleet of 23 along with the 13 new helicopters Navy has ordered. We also look at the importance of keeping and growing their workforce, their work assisting with the new MH-60M Blackhawks Army are introducing, and also their ability to share workforce between the Romeo and Blackhawk projects. We wrap up with a look towards the future for sustainment of the rotary fleet.

We talk with Rod about Lockheed Martin's involvement with space capabilities, the Government's deferral of the JP9102 project, and the broad variety of customer requirements they work with globally. We also discuss managing the large volumes of data being generated in space, changes in the space environment, and the issues with increasingly crowded orbits. We then move on to Lockheed Martin's global supply chain, balancing the need for iteration & innovation against engineering processes for safety and mission completion, partnerships with local industry and academia, and the importance of growing Australian workforce talent.

Links:

Sikorsky Australia

www.lockheedmartin.com/en-au/sikorsky-australia-aircraft.html

Lockheed Martin Space

www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/space.html

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