Lockheed Martin’s Marietta plant announced on Friday it will be constructing five new aircraft for the United States Air Force and Marine Corps as part of a deal that is worth more than $200 million for the aerospace and defense company.
The Marietta Daily Journal reports that the order is an extension of a $5.3 billion December contract for 78 C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. The newest deal orders an additional five C-130Js, all to be built at the company’s Marietta location.
The five aircraft are required to be completed by 2020.
It is estimated 2,000 of the 5,000 workers employed at the plant work on the C-130J line. Lockheed has the ability to produce up to 24 C-130Js annually.
Vice president and general manager of Lockheed’s Air Mobility and Maritime Missions division, George Schultz, praised the deal as beneficial for the US military as well as the local community.
“These additional five C-130Js ordered through the C-130J multiyear contract provide our U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps operators with the world’s most proven and versatile aircraft that will be used to support critical missions,” he said. “From a more local perspective, this contract is important because it provides economic growth to Cobb County, where every production C-130 Hercules — and that’s more than 2,500 to date — has been assembled.”
Three of the C-130Js are destined to be used by the Air Force, while the other two are designated for the Marine Corps.
The aircraft has a variety of uses in the armed forces, including transporting troops, evacuating wounded troops, and delivering supplies.
Nasdaq reports the Hercules is the longest continually produced line of aircraft in military history.
