Aerospace and defense companies Lockheed Martin Corp. and United Technologies Corp. are joining forces to bid on a contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with new combat search-and-rescue helicopters.
The effort is the second cooperation the two companies have carried out lately. In April, the companies announced an agreement to compete jointly for the U.S. Navy's revived Presidential helicopter program.
For the Air Force bid, Lockheed and United Technologies Thursday said they will submit an proposal to offer an advanced version of Sikorsky's UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter, manufactured by United Technologies, to replace the Air Force's 112 HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters. Sikorsky would be prime contractor and Lockheed the major subsystems supplier.
The combination comes as the Pentagon is shifting spending priorities as a decade-long spike in outlays comes to an end amid trillion-dollar federal budget deficits and the winding down of the U.S. military's presence in Iraq