Lockheed Martin Australia & New Zealand, Joe North, speaks with APDR Editor, Kym Bergmann

Kym Bergmann: Let’s start with your signature program – the F-35. It hasn’t been in the news lately, so why not bring us up to date?

Joe North: Overall the program continues on a very strong front as you probably see – a lot of interest worldwide with countries buying into the program, which is always good. Of course, the good news from Australia’s side, the 72 aircraft they’re buying are already locked in, so we know what we are getting and when we are getting them. We maintain that schedule very well with seven more delivered by the end of last year.

We have also been tied to directives and goals with our customer to drive costs down at the same time, which we’ve been successful doing on schedule. So overall, I think the program will grow. That’s a good thing. Deliveries are expected year after year and that increases, of course, our work here in the country to get ready for the sustainment phase. We have two very large contracts under Lockheed Martin for the sustainment effort…

Read more in the current issue of APDR (Free to read with registration or via Facebook/Linkedin): https://venturaapdr.partica.online/apdr/apdr-feb-2020/features/lockheed-martin-australia-amp-new-zealand-joe-north-speaks-with-apdr-editor-kym-bergmann

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Kym Bergmann
Kym Bergmann has more than 35 years of experience in journalism and Australian and international defence industry. After graduating with Honors from the Australian National University, he joined Capital 7 television, holding several positions including foreign news editor and chief political correspondent. After 2 years on the staff of a Federal Minister, he moved to the defence sector and held senior positions in several companies, including Blohm+Voss, Thales, Celsius and Saab. In 1997 he was one of 2 Australians selected for the Thomson CSF 'Preparation for Senior Management' MBA course, the other being Chris Jenkins - formerly the CEO of Thales Australia. He has also worked as a consultant for a number of companies, including Raytheon, Tenix (now part of BAES) and Martin Marrietta (now part of Lockheed Martin). He had several board appointments, including Thomson Sintra Pacific (1994 - 96) and Saab Pacific (1998 - 2003). He retains good personal links with senior figures in Government, as well as in industry and the media. He decided to return to journalism in May 2008, and holds the position of editor for Asia Pacific Defence Reporter (APDR) and Defence Review Asia (DRA). He is also a podcaster and commentator on defence and national security issues.

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