Lockheed Martin Awarded $1 Billion for C-130J Airlifters

On Thursday morning, Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) announced that it has been awarded a second multiyear contract to deliver 78 C-130J Super Hercules airlifters to various branches of the U.S. government. The company received an award of $1 billion of the total award of $5.3 billion for the first 32 of the planes.

Of the 78 planes included in the award, 72 are destined for the U.S. Air Force and six are headed for the Marine Corps. The U.S. Coast Guard has an option for an additional five planes. All 78 planes will be delivered beginning in 2016 and ending in 2020.

Lockheed already has supplied 60 of the planes to the federal government in the first multiyear contract, which began in 2003 and ran through 2008. More than 300 of the C-130Js have been delivered to 19 operators in 16 countries.
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Earlier in December, the French government authorized an order for four new C-130Js, though the order has not yet been announced. To land the order, the U.S. government assured French officials that the C-130J will stay in service until 2050, according to source cited in Defense News. The four planes are expected to cost a total of around $650 million.

In January of 2014, Lockheed submitted a proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a type design update to the L-382J (a civil aviation-certified variant to the first C-130) to create a civil aircraft variation on the C-130J to be called the LM-100J.