Voting
?What about new design for our website
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
Voting Number 1647
- 'Birds of Goodness' executes 43rd humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- EDGE Becomes a Global Player in Non-Lethal Technologies by Acquiring Industry Leader CONDOR
- Birds of Goodness executes 42nd humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness executes 41st humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness delivers over 3000 tons via 40 airdrops since humanitarian operation commenced.
- 'Birds of Goodness' executes 39th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- 'Birds of Goodness' executes 38th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Saab delivers fourth GlobalEye to the UAE
- Birds of Goodness executes 37th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness executes 36th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness executes 35th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Led by the Commander of Joint Operations .. A delegation from the Ministry of Defense, has initiated several-day visit to the People's Republic of China
- Birds of Goodness executes 34th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness' executes 33rd humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness delivers over 2,000 tonnes of aid via 32 airdrops since humanitarian operation began
- On the 2nd day of Eid al-Fitr... Birds of Goodness Executes 31st Humanitarian Airdrop and Eid Clothing in North Gaza
- On the first day of Eid Al-Fitr,UAE and Jordan conduct 14th joint food aid airdrop in northern Gaza
- UAE and Jordan conduct 13th joint food aid airdrop in northern Gaza
- 'Birds of Goodness' Executes 29th Humanitarian Aid Airdrop and Eid Clothing in North Gaza.
- UAE and Jordan conduct 12th joint food aid airdrop in northern Gaza
2013-11-01
IDEX perfectly complements the bi-annual Dubai Airshow:Anthony Winns,Lockheed Martin President,Middle East and Africa
By: Jasem Shaheen
Headquartered in Bethesda, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services. Anthony Winns, Lockheed Martin President, Middle East and Africa talked to Nation Shield on how Lockheed Martin is assisting partners to stay ahead of security threats. He also stated that IDEX perfectly complements the bi-annual Dubai Airshow and Lockheed Martin is proud of the partnership with Mubadala on various ventures.
You have corporate offices in Abu Dhabi in the Middle East. How important is your presence in Abu Dhabi to the overall business of Lockheed Martin?
Our presence in Abu Dhabi is very important. Lockheed Martin highly values its relationships with partners, employees and the communities where we live and work. The has been Lockheed Martin’s leading partner in the Middle East for the past ten years.
Do you plan to open more offices in the Middle East?
Lockheed Martin has been a partner to several countries in the Middle East for nearly five decades. We have corporate offices in UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and continue to look for new opportunities in the international market. We are committed to working with our local partners to develop mutually beneficial business opportunities for the future.
You have extensive experience of 32 years with the Navy. Does it help in your new assignment and if so how?
I enjoyed an exciting and very professionally rewarding career with the U.S. Navy for over 32 years. Indeed my experience wearing the cloth of my nation has helped me in my position here at Lockheed Martin in many ways. First and foremost the navy afforded me the opportunity to develop my leadership and management skills at an early age. I have led people as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy and at every rank in the Navy from Ensign to Vice Admiral. You are placed in leadership positions early on and I believe there is no finer institution for developing people skills than the military. I use those leadership skills daily here at Lockheed Martin by leading the various country and business development executives in my role as President of the region. Secondly, the Navy allowed me to develop my critical thinking skills including thinking on my feet. There were situations throughout my military career where I had to make a split-second decision that would be the difference between life and death. As well, the Navy emphasized the importance of being in top physical shape in order to perform your duties. I now have a mindset of physical fitness for life. The Navy also afforded me the opportunity to further my education and obtain an MBA degree (MS in Financial Management) from the Naval Postgraduate School and I use these financial skills in my current position. Finally, the Navy taught me the importance of living a life of learning. I continued to learn at every step of my Navy career and to this day I have never stopped learning. I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. In summary I would say that the U.S. Navy taught me the true meaning of being mentally, morally and physically fit for life.
The Corporation’s net sales for 2012 were $47.2 billion. Can you indicate the share of the Middle East in that?
Through hard work and dedication our people have performed well resulting in a great year in terms of revenues. Last year Lockheed Martin sales were $47.2 B of which approximately 7% came from the Middle East region.
The Middle East has shown a renewed interest in your missile defense systems. Can you please elaborate?
There is growing interest in the region for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Weapon System and the PAC-3 Missile. GCC countries have expressed interest in these systems as well. The UAE and our GCC allies understand the importance of the hit-to-kill technology that the THAAD Weapon System and PAC-3 missiles offer.
How do you see the market here for your products such as F-35, C-130J & F-16?
Clearly the Middle East is a key focus area for Lockheed Martin across our Aeronautics portfolio.
•The F-16 continues to enjoy significant opportunity for new production as well as upgrade of existing fleets. A key strength of the F-16 program is the expansive user community – 26 Air Forces around the world operate the F-16 and within the Middle East alone, users operate over 500 F-16s. The result is that all enjoy the benefits of affordable operations and sustainment that a large user community offers.
•We continue to enjoy strong worldwide demand for the C-130J. It has a broad user community and has been proven in combat operations by multiple air forces. The C-130J has now surpassed one million hours. Like the F-16, the broad C-130 user community ensures worldwide support and affordability. We are also focused on expanding the roll-on/roll-off mission systems to offer even greater multi-mission capability and affordability on a common and proven platform.
•On F-35, we are at the threshold of what we believe will be a strong demand for this unique, 5th Generation capability. It is unlike any other fighter on the market. As has been noted in the press, there is growing confidence in the aircraft and the program, the US Services have recently declared IOC dates, and we continue to enjoy strong Partner support.
Cyber Security is emerging as a major concern in this region. What do you have on offer in this segment and how are these services received here?
“Securing networks from invasive threats is one of the fastest-growing challenges facing the world today. Network attackers are tenacious and insidious, continually devising unique ways to gain access to secure information.
Our approach is to stay one-step ahead of our adversaries by quickly recognizing and mitigating problems before they arise, in order to assist our partners to protect their national security.”
We currently have a number of active engagements in the region, covering Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.
During the first stage of any involvement we look to conduct an assessment of a partner’s networks, organization and governance. From this assessment plus the partner’s objectives we develop a roadmap to harden and keep hard (make resilient) their networks via collection and analysis of intelligence data, specifically regarding potential adversaries.
During the second phase of involvement, we build a Security Intelligence Center to conduct forensics about advanced persistent threats (APT). Our team will work together with each partner, supplier and academia to develop specific technologies and capabilities which keep networks hard. IT Training for local cyber analysts to mature their tradecraft is a critical part of the process.
The future will undoubtedly bring on new cyber challenges. Lockheed Martin is committed to delivering solutions to its customers here in the Middle East region which will help them win the battle in cyberspace.
You do business in 70 Countries. Which African countries figure significantly among them?
Indeed we conduct business in over 70 countries world-wide. The African countries of Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa plus others utilize our products. I should also mention that we are expanding our horizon in the sub-sahara region. Eighteen countries in Africa have purchased the C-130 aircraft and currently we are experiencing an increasing interest in our latest C-130J aircraft from a number of African countries.
How has participation in IDEX in Abu Dhabi helped in expanding your business in the region?
IDEX is a strategically important defence exhibition on the global defence and security exhibition calendar and provides an ideal environment to showcase our products and capabilities in the land and naval sectors as well as air.
It perfectly complements the bi-annual Dubai Air Show.
As we look to grow our international business from 17 to 25 per cent of sales in the next several years the ability to target buyers from existing, new and emerging markets, the Middle East and Africa is an important element of our growth strategy. In this respect, IDEX delivers.
Lockheed Martin has been a regular participant in Dubai Airshow. Your comments on the steady growth of the show?
The Dubai Airshow is the Middle East’s leading aerospace event and continues to gain global importance.
For Lockheed Martin it not only provides an excellent shop window for our innovative solutions which help defend global security, push the boundaries of scientific discovery and deliver essential services to citizens around the globe, it also provides an unrivalled opportunity to network with current and future partners, and research and academic institutions from around the region in a relaxed yet business-like environment.
What is your view about Offset programs and joint ventures with Mubadala?
Lockheed Martin is proud of the partnership with Mubadala in our AMMROC joint venture. We are committed to seeking further business relationships with Emirati companies that result in positive outcomes for all stakeholders. We’re very pleased to have this opportunity to continue Lockheed Martin’s relationship with the UAE, a nation that we consider an important friend of the United States and a valued partner to our corporation.
Visitors Comments
Related Topics
.
No Comments