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A retired Air Marshal has been appointed to replace Joe North as Lockheed Martin’s chief executive, Australia and New Zealand.
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Air Marshal (Ret'd) Warren McDonald, AO, CSC, has been appointed to serve in Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand’s leadership team from 1 July, before assuming the role as chief executive later this year.
Joe North is expected to remain as Lockheed Martin Australia & New Zealand CEO during McDonald’s transition.
Once assuming the role of chief executive, McDonald will report to Ray Piselli, vice president, international business, Lockheed Martin Global Business Development.
Piselli welcomed the new appointment, which he said would reinforce Lockheed Martin’s commitment to supporting the ADF’s strategic objectives.
“Warren’s service, including as Deputy Chief of Air Force and Chief of Joint Capabilities, will bring unique insights, experience and expertise as we support the customer to realise the vision for a fully integrated, networked defence force to achieve the military superiority necessary to meet challenges of the 21st century battlefield,” Piselli said.
“We are delighted to have Warren join the Lockheed Martin team and know that he is no stranger to Lockheed Martin capabilities first-hand, having seen operational service in Australia and overseas as well as flying in Lockheed Martin aircraft during his time as a RAAF pilot.”
Commenting on his appointment, McDonald, who served over 40 years in the RAAF, said he was looking forward to contributing to the modernisation of Australia’s defence capability amid growing regional threats.
“Lockheed Martin is at the forefront of delivering state-of-the-art defence capabilities for Australia and across the region in the air, land, sea, space and cyber domains,” he said.
“I look forward to working with the team and partnering with the customer and industry to accelerate the development and deployment of world-leading sovereign capabilities for Australia in the 21st Century challenges.”
Before rising through the ranks and serving as the inaugural Chief of Joint Capabilities, McDonald served as a pilot, logging over 5,000 hours in the P-3 Orion.
The new appointee’s rotational assignments included Squadron, Wing and Group appointments, a number of deployed commands, and a stint as Deputy Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force.
[Related: RAAF appoints inaugural Head of Space Division]
Charbel Kadib
News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media
Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres.
