Lockheed Martin, maker of the F-35 Lightning II family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft, together with Israel’s Foreign Investment and Industrial Cooperation Authority, signed a new Industrial Cooperation Agreement (ICA) in a ceremony that was held at Lockheed Martin Israel’s Demonstration Center in Tel-Aviv. The ceremony was led by Israel’s Economy Minister Amir Peretz, Lockheed Martin Israel Chief Executive Joshua (Shiki) Shani, Director General of the Economy Ministry David Leffler and Head of Foreign Investment and Industrial Cooperation Authority (ICA) Ziva Eger.
Lockheed Martin has committed to invest back into Israeli-based companies at a rate of 35% of the contract value of any new contracts. This will further increase the corporation’s investment in current and future programs within Israeli industry, following the latest cooperation with the Israeli industry that included many contracts, including the F-16I, C-130J, CH-53D and Blackhawks.
Lockheed Martin has initiated and maintained significant long-term economic relationships with the State of Israel and its local industries. To date, Lockheed Martin has invested more than $4.3 billion with Israeli defense and aerospace industries because of the high quality, cutting-edge technology that Israeli industry offers.
Through this new ICA, Lockheed Martin aims to grow its network of highly skilled Israeli companies through enhanced investments in the critical Aerospace and Defense industrial sector. The industrial partnership between Lockheed Martin and Israeli industry has positively impacted the Israeli State GDP significantly through increased business which has created thousands of jobs. Lockheed Martin looks forward to increasing these partnerships in the future with Israel and continues its investments in upskilling the next generation of the Israeli high-skilled workforce through various Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives.
Amir Peretz, Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry: “Industrial Cooperation agreements are a substantial growth engine in ordinary times and quite so during the Covid-19 pandemic. The new umbrella agreement that was signed today with Lockheed Martin is a meaningful show of trust in the capabilities of the Israeli industry. It is also proof of the value this global company sees in Israel’s innovative technology. I have set the goal of strengthening Israel’s position as a favorable destination for foreign investment. I strive to put Israel on the map both through advancing Industrial Cooperation agreements and by propelling Israeli industry to become an attractive destination and create real value for international companies.”
Joshua (Shiki) Shani, Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin Israel: “Lockheed Martin deeply understands the strength and advancement of the Israeli Industry. We are proud to be a long-standing partner of the Israel security system, from the industry to the customer itself. It is a great honor to support Israel’s national security with the most advanced platforms in the world, such as the F-35, F-16, C-130, and hopefully future IAF Heavy-Lift helicopter, the CH-53K. We look forward to deepening our strong cooperation with Israeli industry in many more future programs under this new agreement, and we stand ready to continue supporting the economy for decades to come.”
Ziva Eger, Chief Executive of Foreign Investments and Industrial Cooperation: “The umbrella agreement recently signed with Lockheed Martin constitutes another big step toward strengthening the financial ties between the global company and the Israeli industry. The company, which has an ongoing relationship with many Israeli companies, is expected to expand and deepen its involvement in the local ecosystem vis-?-vis manufacturing and technology companies and research institutes. We believe this activity will produce great value and contribute considerably both to Lockheed Martin and to the Israeli economy. It will also assist greatly to the small to medium defense industries during this challenging economic climate.”