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BAE Systems has been awarded a contract from Lockheed Martin for the production and delivery of additional electronic warfare (EW) systems for Lot 15, Lot 16 long lead, sustainment spares and retrofit kits for the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II.
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The contract follows BAE Systems’ production and delivery of more than 500 EW systems for the F-35 as a key system partner, matching Lockheed Martin’s airframe production. BAE Systems supports all stages of the product’s life cycle, from development and production to sustainment – providing the platform with advanced situational awareness and threat response capabilities that support critical missions in contested airspace.
The company is actively designing and developing new capabilities to enhance the system’s offensive and defensive capabilities, and maintains its readiness for warfighters under a performance-based logistics sustainability contract.
Deborah Norton, vice president of F-35 Solutions at BAE Systems, said, "Our goal is to deliver capabilities that provide warfighters with a distinct advantage on the battlefield."
BAE Systems has strategically invested in state-of-the-art manufacturing, workforce development, and supply chain excellence to ensure that advanced systems are delivered to meet urgent customer needs.
"This contract underscores our partnership with Lockheed Martin and our collective commitment to deliver affordable, sustainable, and world-class electronic warfare systems to combat evolving threats," Norton added.
BAE Systems’ engineers have a deep understanding of the electronic warfare environment and the challenging conditions our customers face.
The company continues to build on decades of experience designing, qualifying, delivering and sustaining systems for the most advanced aircraft in the world to dominate the future EW battlespace.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is billed as a catalyst for the fifth-generation revolution, changing the face and capability of the Royal Australian Air Force and the wider Australian Defence Force.
For the RAAF, the F-35A's combination of full-spectrum low-observable stealth coatings and materials, advanced radar-dispersing shaping, network-centric sensor and communications suites – combined with a lethal strike capability – means the aircraft will be the ultimate force-multiplying, air-combat platform.
More than 340 F-35s are operating today with partner nations, more than 700 pilots and 6,500 maintainers have been trained, and the F-35 fleet has surpassed more than 170,000 cumulative flight hours.
Over the coming years, Australia will purchase 72 of the advanced fifth-generation fighter aircraft as part of the $17 billion AIR 6000 Phase 2A/B program – which is aimed at replacing the ageing F/A-18A/B Classic Hornets that have been in service with the RAAF since 1985.
Stephen Kuper
Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels.
