Washington. Leading aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin has been shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic as its F-35 joint strike fighter programme faces the prospect of a slowdown in deliveries, company executives said.
“The disruptions introduced by the virus have caused us to reduce our 2020 sales expectations as production and supply chain activities have recently slowed in our aeronautics business area,” Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson said during an earnings call with investors on April 21.
The company now projects its total sales for 2020 will amount to anywhere from $62.25 billion to $64 billion dollars — down from the $62.75 billion to $64.25 billion it had previously estimated in January.
Meanwhile, flight testing at Edwards AFB has stopped and many other testing activities paused due to the pandemic.
Production of the F-35 has been the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic so far, said Ken Possenriede, the company’s chief financial officer.
“There’s more analysis that we’re going to do over the next couple of weeks working with our supply chain, our Fort Worth production line to determine — if any impact — to what extent it will be, including deliveries,” he said.
Lockheed’s acknowledgement of COVID-19 related challenges comes a day after the Pentagon disclosed schedule delays across its major weapons acquisition efforts, with aviation programmes hit particularly hard by the effects of the pandemic.
