Interview | Vice President and Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin India, William L. Blair|| February 2021

This has been an unusual year. How did Lockheed Martin adapt to new realities dictated by the Covid-19 pandemic?

Our priorities over the last year have included the health and safety of the employees, business continuity to meet customer needs, and resolve to support our nation and its allies including India during this crisis.

This included support through accelerated progress payments and orders to small and vulnerable businesses, and direct contribution to national Covid-19 relief effort via Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund. Through our India Innovation Growth Programme 2.0 and JVs in India, we have been engaging start-ups to provide in-kind support and technology to advance Covid-19 relief efforts and help raise awareness in local communities.

Additionally, we are also working on remote mentoring of our Women Apprentices working at the JVs and continue promoting STEM education amongst middle and high school students via virtual classes.

From Lockheed Martin’s perspective, how is Aero India 2021 different from its previous editions in terms of your exhibits and participation?

We are really excited to participate in Aero India 2021 and reiterate our commitment to supporting the growth of an indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem, advancing the aerospace and start-up ecosystem, and strengthening India’s strategic security and industrial capabilities. We see tremendous opportunity in India’s defence industry—both private and public. Aligned with our commitment to ‘Atmanirbhar’ Bharat and ‘Make in India’ initiatives, we look forward to further strengthening our partnerships across the country with companies of all sizes, including MSMEs.

Our focus at the show will be to exhibit our advanced security platforms and capabilities from across aeronautics, rotary and mission systems and missiles and fire control businesses.

We will be present at the show in strict accordance with COVID-19 protocols laid down by the ministry of defence and state government. The safety of our employees, customers and visitors is our topmost priority, and we stand committed to ensuring that all guidelines are followed at our booth.

Did the pandemic effect your ongoing programmes in India? What has been the progress on those?

Thus far, Covid-19 has had no impact on our India programmes except for the general inability to meet face-to-face with our various programme stakeholders. We have been utilising virtual meetings in lieu of in-person ones. In July 2020, we joined hands with Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), two premium industry bodies and the driving force behind defence MSME and ‘Make in India’ for the virtual edition of annual Suppliers Conference and Exhibition in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The five-day conference witnessed more than 400 delegates, over 200 companies of all sizes, total of 65 B2B meetings and 62 companies as exhibitors. The conference provided a platform to drive conversations around partnership opportunities that fuel ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan’, strengthen India-US defence industrial strategic ties, particularly ‘Make in India’ pa