By Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lockheed Martin announced on Monday that a future Air Force mid-air refueling tanker would be made in Alabama and Georgia, potentially creating 1,300 new jobs between the two sites.
Expansion and hiring at existing sites in Mobile, Alabama, and Marietta, Georgia for the next U.S. tanker is contingent upon the award which was expected in late-2024 or 2025, Larry Gallogly, director of the LMXT program for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, told reporters on Monday.
In June the U.S. Air Force began surveying the aircraft industry to learn if another manufacturer has the capacity or interest to make the next tranche of mid-air refueling tankers similar to the recently purchased KC-46.
Lockheed has teamed up with France’s Airbus in the contest which uses an Airbus commercial plane as the basis for the tanker.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)