Siemens builds on previous use of its applications at leading defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
Lockheed Martin’s Aeronautics division has renewed its commitment to Siemens’ design and manufacturing applications, as indicated by today’s announcement by Siemens that the No. 1 defense contractor will be applying the “Xcelerator portfolio of software and services to support its digital engineering transformation” with a multiyear contract.
“Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is a leader in the aerospace industry, and their decision to expand adoption of Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio enables driving digital initiatives and winning programs,” said Tony Hemmelgarn, president and chief executive officer, Siemens Digital Industries Software, in a press release. “Building off of our experience on the F-35 program, and through close collaboration, Siemens is excited to help Lockheed Martin accelerate production and meet DoD contract requirements for both current programs and new initiatives.”
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics joins Airbus in its use of Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio.
Xcelerator is the term Siemens has coined to refer to a collection of its existing products and services that “accelerate” the move to digitalization. It is as if Siemens had to come up with a marketing flag to rally under after Dassault Systemes produced its 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
The financial terms of this renewal have not been disclosed. The use of Xcelerator builds on the existing use of Siemens applications at Lockheed Martin.
The F-35 program has been most lucrative for Lockheed Martin and was celebrated as a success of Made in America Day for the 1,800 jobs it created by 2018, 400 of them in Fort Worth, Tex., where the company is headquartered. The company won a preliminary contract valued at up to $22.7 billion to build 255 F-35 jets for the U.S. military and its allies.
The timing of the press release was unfortunate, however. On the same day, we heard that an F-35C Lighting II had crashed onto the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier operating in the contested South China Sea, injuring seven sailors. The pilot ejected safely into the sea and was picked up by a helicopter. It was the first time the F-35C has been deployed on an aircraft carrier.
The F-35 is the most advanced—and most expensive—fighter jet ever introduced. It has faced much criticism for its initial and ongoing costs, said to be $44,000 per hour for the F-35A, about double the per hour cost of the Navy’s F/A-18F. Certainly, the advanced technology is not cheap. The F-35 was conceived with vertical takeoff, supersonic speed and stealth—a technological combination never before attempted. But costs were reduced as production ramped up. At $80 million per plane today, it is less costly than several other air superiority fighter aircraft currently available.
Lockheed Martin is ranked first among defense contractors worldwide in the Defense News 2021 Top 100 with 2020 defense-related revenue of over $62 billion. The company generates 96 percent of its revenue from defense, as opposed to No. 2 Raytheon (65% defense) and No. 3 Boeing (56% defense).
