NORWAY and the UNITED STATES sign agreement for sale of LOCKHEED MARTIN C-130J SUPER HERCULES AIRCRAFT

MARIETTA, Ga,- The governments of Norway and the United States have signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) for the sale of four Lockheed Martin [NYSE:LMT] C-130J Super Hercules aircraft to Norway.

“The C-130J aircraft will provide the Norwegian Air Force with modern and effective airlift assets to support national requirements and worldwide coalition commitments,” said Ross Reynolds, vice president of Air Mobility for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. “The C-130J is a proven, available aircraft with performance and payload flexibility necessary to move mission-critical, time-sensitive cargo to sustain deployed military units anytime, anywhere.”

“C-130Js from a number of nations are performing a full spectrum of traditional airlift missions in a demanding range of austere environments,” Reynolds said. “Additionally, the C-130J has been proven in humanitarian relief operations such as the Pakistan earthquake, Indonesian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.”

Under separate agreements, Lockheed Martin will create an industrial cooperation program that fully meets Norwegian requirements for the C-130J procurement.

The new C-130J is capable of generating much greater operational efficiencies than the older C 130s by flying further, faster, with more payload and higher reliability. Additionally, the C 130J only requires three crew members for most missions so fewer flight crew members are exposed to potential threats in-theater.

C-130Js are currently deployed in several theaters and are operating at a very high tempo efficiently and reliably. C-130Js are being used daily for troop and equipment re-supply via ground delivery and airdrop, for air-to-air refueling, ground refueling and humanitarian relief. The worldwide fleet of C-130Js has now exceeded 355,000 flight hours.