Lockheed Wins $1-Billion Pact for C-17 Components
Lockheed-California has won the three-way bidding for a $1-billion contract to make wing components for the Air Force’s new C-17 transport plane.
McDonnell Douglas, prime contractor for the C-17, said Friday that it chose Lockheed over Avco Aerostructures Textron of Nashville, Tenn., and Rockwell International. In placing the value of the award at “more than $1 billion,” the company said the Air Force plans to acquire 210 of the transports through the year 2000.
Among other components, Lockheed will make the 9.5-foot-tall “winglets” that will be at the tip of each of the C-17’s wings. It be the first use of this aerodynamic configuration on a large military transport. The winglets are said to provide the airborne efficiency of a longer wing while allowing ground maneuverability normally associated with smaller aircraft.
A spokesman for Burbank-based Lockheed-California said the new work, which will generate about 400 jobs, will mainly provide employment stability for its current work force as other projects begin to wind down over the next few years.
“Employment never stays the same in the aerospace business,” spokesman James W. Ragsdale said. “Hiring takes place project by project.”
Ragsdale said most of the jobs will be at Lockheed-California’s Burbank plant. Another 50 to 75 will be in Palmdale.
In its announcement, McDonnell Douglas said Lockheed was the last major subcontractor to be selected as the C-17 program enters its final development phase. The aircraft’s first flight is scheduled for 1990.
