Although it lost out on a prospective F-35 sale to Germany, Lockheed Martin recently secured a contract with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) providing C-130 cargo plane training assistance.

Aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin saw its stock price rise on Thursday after Reuters reported that Germany would seek to buy additional 35 F-35 Lightning II multirole fighters, doubling its 2022 order for the fifth-generation stealth aircraft. One day later, however, Bloomberg reported that Germany had officially denied it was expanding its F-35 order.

The Future of Europe’s FCAS Program Is Far from Clear

There were compelling reasons to trust the initial reporting. Berlin has expressed frustration over the state of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), the joint sixth-generation fighter program with France and Spain. Issues remain regarding technology sharing and the workload each partner would receive. There has also been speculation that Germany would bail out of the FCAS, and perhaps even seek to join the competing British-led Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), which includes Italy and Japan as partners.

After the German government denied the reports, Lockheed Martin’s shares went down, but the aerospace and defense giant is still doing well; it reported last month that it set a record for F-35 production in 2025, and the number of Lightning IIs continues to grow by nearly 15 percent annually. Lockheed Martin has already produced more than 1,300 of the stealth fighters, making it the most successful fifth-generation program to date. It has been widely adopted by NATO members, with several alliance countries increasing their respective orders.

Although Lockheed Martin lost the contract to build the United States Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) sixth-generation fighter—to be known as the F-47 once complete—to Boeing, Lockheed Martin has indicated it would still develop a fifth-generation-plus aircraft that would incorporate some of the technology from its NGAD prototype.

Lockheed Martin Will Deliver C-130 Training Support to Australia’s RAAF

In addition to the F-35 deals, Lockheed Martin has also confirmed that it was awarded a foreign military sale (FMS) contract to provide the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) with C-130J training devices—specifically two Weapons System Trainers, an Enhanced Integrated Cockpit Systems Trainer (EICS), and a Loadmaster Part-Task Trainer. The aerospace firm will also provide upgrades to the RAAF’s Virtual Simulation and Virtual Maintenance Trainers.

“We’re honored to continue our long-standing partnership with the Royal Australian Air Force to enhance and expand their training capabilities,” said Todd Morar, vice president of Air and Commercial Systems at Lockheed Martin. “As the original equipment manufacturer of the C‑130J, our knowledge of the aircraft and its operational flight program enable us to provide the most authentic, mission‑ready training tools available, preparing Australian aircrews to master the aircraft on day one.”

The devices are meant to aid in training aircrews for the C-130J, offering “cutting‑edge graphics, motion cueing and high‑fidelity cockpit replication that mirror the operational aircraft,” and were built specifically for the RAAF’s C-130J-30 acquisitions.

“Our focus is preparing a mission-ready future force through the use of advanced technologies that reduce risk, cost and timelines, while improving capability to give Defence an operational edge,” said Peter Ashworth, Lockheed Martin Australia director of Global Training Systems. “Lockheed Martin Australia looks forward to supporting the Royal Australian Air Force with its C-130J training requirements to ensure RAAF personnel are equipped with the critical skills needed to achieve the mission.”

The RAAF is one of the world’s largest operators of the Lockheed C-130, first adopting the aircraft in 1958. Today, the fleet in the land down under includes 12 C-130J-30 Super Hercules, and as part of the 2022 FMS agreement, that number will be expanded by up to two dozen additional aircraft. As part of a July 2023 agreement, 20 of the new aircraft will replace/augment the existing fleet, with the first new Super Hercules set to arrive in 2028. 

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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