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A T-50 in Red Arrows colors on display at the Farnborough Airshow.
FARNBOROUGH, England—Lockheed Martin is continuing its teaming agreement with Korea Aerospace Industries to offer the T-50 trainer in the United Kingdom as it scours the country for a potential production partner.
KAI at the Farnborough Airshow displayed a model of the T-50 in the colors of the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows demonstration team. Tara Lause, vice president of aeronautics integrated fighter group business development at Lockheed Martin, said her company worked with KAI to display the model as a pitch to the UK at the show.
“We’re excited about pursuing the opportunity for the Red Arrows and any other training needs that the United Kingdom has,” she tells Aviation Week.
While the UK is formulating requirements for the effort, Lockheed is talking with companies about a way to work together.
“We understand the importance of industrial participation in competitions like this, whether it’s a stated requirement or not,” she says.
The comments come after BAE Systems and Boeing announced an agreement for the T-7A Red Hawk. Other announced or potential competitors include Leonardo with the M346, Turkish Aerospace Industries with their Hurjet and U.S.-based SNC with the new Freedom trainer.
Additionally, Lause says Lockheed Martin is looking at emerging requirements for trainers in Australia, Finland and Japan.
Lockheed Martin publicly dropped out of the competition to build the U.S. Navy’s next trainer, with Boeing following suit. The move leaves SNC and Textron with Leonardo in the competition.
“We looked at what it would take to successfully win that competition—we found it a better option to pursue some of these other opportunities,” Lause says.
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