Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Lockheed Wins $29M Deal to Develop MH-60R Aircraft Sensors

Read MoreHide Full Article

Lockheed Martin Corp.’s (LMT - Free Report) business unit, Rotary and Missions Systems, recently secured a $28.5 million contract for Phase I integration of the Digital Magnetic Anomaly Detection sensor into the MH-60R helicopter. The deal has been awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.

In particular, Lockheed will offer non-recurring and recurring engineering support associated with software and hardware development for the aforementioned sensor integration in the MH-60R jet. The contract is scheduled to be completed by October 2023. The majority of the work related to this deal will be executed in Owego, NY.

Growing Helicopter Demand & Lockheed

A rapid increase in terror attacks has compelled nations to strengthen their arsenal and bump up defense budget. With the United States being the largest exporter of defense equipment across the world, the nation enjoys a steady flow of contracts for its combat-proven weaponries from both Pentagon and its foreign allies.

With military jets and helicopters constituting a major portion of a nation’s armaments, there is a steady flow of contracts for these weaponries. The latest contract win by Lockheed Martin is an instance of that.

Notably, Lockheed’s Sikorsky business line has been one of the major forerunners in the U.S. combat helicopter space. It provides military and rotary-wing aircraft to all five branches of the U.S. armed forces along with military services and commercial operators in 40 nations.

Deal Benefits for Lockheed

As demand for helicopters is rising, so is the need for making these jets even more invincible through frequent upgrades.  Notably, Lockheed Martin’s infrared sensor systems provide advanced precision targeting, navigation, threat detection and next generation intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

We believe integration of the Digital Magnetic Anomaly Detection sensor into the MH-60R helicopter will make these aircraft even more desirable in the combat helicopter market and usher in more contracts for the company in the coming days. These in turn bolster Lockheed’s growth prospects.

Looking Ahead

Per a Morder Intelligence report, the global attack helicopter market is expected to witness CAGR of more than 4% during 2020-2025 time period, thanks to rise in global threats, geopolitical instabilities and increased spending on defense. These projections should continue to boost growth for major combat helicopter producers like Lockheed, Textron (TXT - Free Report) and Boeing (BA - Free Report) .

Price Movement

Lockheed Martin’s stock slipped 0.9% in the past year compared with the industry’s decline of 33.8%.

Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider

Lockheed Martin currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A better-ranked stock in the same sector is Teledyne Technologies Inc (TDY - Free Report) , carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Teledyne Technologies pulled off an earnings surprise of 11.70% in the last four quarters, on average. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings has moved up 4.8% in past 60 days. .

Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential

The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.

Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better.

See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>

Published in