Lockheed Martin announced today the addition of the Turkish Air Force 2nd Air Supply and Maintenance Center to the company's global network of authorized C-130 service centers.

The 2nd Air Supply and Maintenance Center is among 14 other military C-130 service centers located throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia to receive this designation.

"Our collaboration with the Turkish Air Force to open an authorized C-130 regional service center will provide Hercules operators in the region with the latest technical data to keep aircraft operationally effective. These partnerships and collaborations are necessities to many organizations around the world who operate Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules aircraft," said Chris Antone, vice president of Global Sustainment Business Development at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

The C-130 Hercules has been in operational use with military forces around the world for more than 50 years. Approximately 1,700 C-130B-H model aircraft and close to 100 L-100 commercial variants are still in operation. The owners and operators of these aircraft understand that designation as an authorized Lockheed Martin Hercules Service Center ensures they will receive the finest C-130 support to be found anywhere.

Lockheed Martin ensures that all authorized service centers provide Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) standards and engineering practices in the work they carry out. In addition, Lockheed provides Field Service Representatives to oversee initial operation and to provide the OEM reach-back to the service center.

Lockheed Martin's Global Sustainment enterprise provides continuing support for its service centers, and conducts periodic site surveys and audits of processes, tools, facilities, quality and training to validate that they continue to provide premier service for the Hercules fleet.

The initial commitment to Kayseri will span a period of 10 years, and represents the outcome of a successful partnership and collaboration between the Turkish Air Force, the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries and Lockheed Martin through the F-16 Peace Onyx III Offset Program. By maintaining the outstanding capabilities and processes already there, Kayseri can continue to service and support C-130 customers well into the future.

Lockheed Martin is a major supplier of logistics systems and lifetime support and performance-based logistics 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 is a global security company that employs about 146,000 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 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company