Lockheed strengthens local ties

Ivan Gale

• Last Updated: November 21. 2009 8:12PM UAE / November 21. 2009 4:12PM GMT

Lockheed Martin plans to forge a “100-year relationship” with the Emirates that could include the sale of a US$7 billion (Dh25.71bn) missile defence system and a joint venture to maintain military aircraft in Abu Dhabi, officials said.

The world’s largest defence company has benefited from the UAE being a top US ally, which has cleared the way for the sale of sensitive and advanced weaponry and systems.

That includes a $6.8bn sale to the UAE in 2000 for the Lockheed Block 60 version of the F-16 fighter jet, a generation more advanced than the ones in use by the US Air Force, and the pending sale of the Theatre High Altitude Air Defence (THAAD) system, which is designed to intercept incoming ballistic missiles.

“The UAE is an extraordinary ally of the US, and it has been a partner with the US from the very beginning of their existence,” said Charles Moore, who was recently appointed the UAE chief executive for Lockheed Martin Global.

Mr Moore declined to give an update on the THAAD negotiations, citing confidentiality requests. However, he held several discussions during the Dubai Airshow last week over another proposal with Mubadala Development, an investment arm of the Government, to create a regional centre for military aircraft maintenance and overhaul in Abu Dhabi. The initiative would capitalise on a trend among regional militaries to cut back on non-core activities and outsource them to the private sector.

“We’re making great progress and my sense is we are very close to closure on this,” Mr Moore said.

Lockheed has been one of the primary recipients of UAE arms procurement this decade. It is one of the major contractors on the Patriot missile defence system purchased by the UAE in a $4bn sale of defensive missiles, service and training last year.

Primarily because of the F-16 deal, which beat out the Dassault Rafale and the Boeing F-15, the Emirates trailed only China and India in global arms imports between 2004 and the end of last year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.

Lockheed has also been negotiating the sale of 12 of its C-130J Super Hercules military cargo planes to the UAE since early this year. The deal, thought to be worth $744 million based on list prices, would assist humanitarian and peacekeeping activities in the region. The company already has a substantial local presence of engineers and technicians to assist the UAE Air Force and boost the mission readiness of the F-16.

“Lockheed Martin is seen as successfully being able to sell high-quality products that at this juncture seems to put them ahead of everyone else,” said Dr Theodore Karasik, the director of research at the Institute for Near Eastern and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai. “The light is shining on Lockheed Martin right now because of THAAD.”

The purchases of US technology stem from continuing regional tensions, including uncertainty over the Iranian nuclear programme.

It has also been given a boost by the strong relationship the Emirates holds with the US, whose navy uses the Jebel Ali port as an important refuelling station.

The UAE is one of a select few countries approved to purchase the THAAD system, as well as the Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning system.

“The UAE is on of the leading edge of this [export control] rule,” Dr Karasik said. “That is done because Gulf security is guaranteed by the US and therefore the US needs to partner up with particular countries in the region for them to provide security and safety.”

igale@thenational.ae