Lockheed Martin is launching a bid for a £1.2 billion Ministry of Defence helicopters contract, vowing to create hundreds of new jobs and lucrative exports by bringing the latest generation of Black Hawks to Britain.
The American defence group plans to create an assembly line in Gosport, Hampshire, and for parts to be made elsewhere in the country if it is chosen to build new helicopters to replace the armed forces’ ageing fleet of Pumas.
Lockheed’s bid could create more than 500 jobs assembling and building up to 44 Black Hawk helicopters, a mainstay of the US military, at the Hampshire factory of StandardAero, its supply partner.
Speaking before the announcement of its plans today at the Defence and Security Equipment International exhibition in London,
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