With two-thirds of an aircraft's lifetime cost attributed to operations and support activities, Lockheed Martin has reinvigorated its Global Sustainment team to provide greater long-term value to customers. By combining its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) design and production expertise with its well-established low-cost sustainment services operation, the company is poised to provide world-class sustainment to customers like never before, according to Marillyn Hewson, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Global Sustainment.

"Global Sustainment brings our customers a business model that provides total lifetime support capability with individually tailored concepts for all our products across the full spectrum of sustainment," said Hewson. "As the Original Equipment Manufacturer, we're committed to total lifetime support of our aircraft and the aircraft we service with greater long-term value for our customers. No one -- other than the customer -- knows our aircraft better than we do."

Lt. Col. Giuseppe Maggiore, Italian Air Force Maintenance Squadron Commander, Main Operating Base, agrees that the OEM support provided by Lockheed Martin for the F-16 fleet there is absolutely critical to the sustainment of aircraft.

"Lockheed Martin personnel on site are able to provide both over the shoulder technical assistance for routine repairs, and hands on assistance for non-routine repairs," he said. "In addition, Lockheed Martin engineers ... provide reach-back capability to its OEM engineering authorities for prompt and complete resolution of very challenging troubleshooting and repairs. Lockheed Martin's ability to support repair and return of line replaceable units in an efficient, cost-effective and rapid manner also reflects the mature, extensive sustainment support capabilities that only an OEM could provide us."

"Our sustainment solutions deliver higher readiness rates, faster response to customer needs, enhanced aircraft performance and more rapid implementation of modifications and upgrades," added Hewson. "We've developed life-cycle roadmaps, management of the supply chain and sustainment solutions based on customer needs and operational realities."

Military customers are making a shift in their acquisition processes that now emphasize weapon system performance and assured levels of readiness, while focusing on integrated system management and direct accountability by their service providers. "What our customers need is increased aircraft performance and availability ... and decreased cost for the life of these aircraft. They want to spend the limited funds they have on new equipment with increased capability, and they want a lower cost to maintain these new aircraft over their life," she said.

Such requirements are driving new ways of thinking that have led to the F-35's Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment (ALGS) approach and the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) developed in partnership with the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Program office.

ALGS is a centrally managed, best value support system for all F-35 aircraft worldwide. Each JSF will have the capability to monitor its own systems and automatically relay information to the Autonomic Information System. The F-35 sustainment model begins with an aircraft built to new standards of reliability, with state-of-the-art prognostics/diagnostic systems that will reduce support costs by over 20 percent.

In April, ALIS officially began operations at the Aeronautics headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, capturing real time flight test data from the first Lightning II test aircraft. This initiates the sustainment process for the global fleet of F-35s in the coming years.

These advancements follow a strong history of performance-based support demonstrated by the company's Total System Sustainment Partnership (TSSP) of the F-117 Night Hawk. The TSSP provides complete sustaining engineering and total logistics support including delivery of technical publications and incorporation of lean manufacturing and repair processes. As a result of this partnership with the U.S. Air Force, the F-117 Nighthawk fleet generated the highest fighter/bomber mission capability rate in the Air Combat Command. Mission impaired capability response time has been slashed by 40 percent.

"Our commitment is to ensure that our customers have products they can rely on," said Hewson. "Global Sustainment effectively mobilizes Lockheed Martin's abilities to support our customers at an entirely new level, with innovative solutions and total life-cycle sustainment. There is no doubt Lockheed Martin knows how to implement Performance Based Logistics. And, customers who require our solutions can depend on us to be there to provide the expertise needed to maintain sortie generation rates that allow them to accomplish their missions."

Lockheed Martin is a major supplier of logistics systems and services to military and civil government customers. The corporation provides solutions for platform maintenance, modifications and repair, material readiness and distribution, and global supply chain command and control.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company