Lockheed Martin creates international arm in sales push

Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's biggest supplier by revenue, is drawing together its overseas sales efforts in a new international arm as it tries to win more contracts outside the United States.

Like its rivals Boeing and Raytheon, Lockheed has made foreign sales a priority as it grapples with billions of dollars of US defence budget cuts in recent years. But it remains more exposed than its competitors to the domestic market.

The new unit, to be called Lockheed Martin International (LMI), will be led by Patrick Dewar, who was previously Lockheed's senior vice president for corporate strategy and business development.

The maker of the F-35 stealth fighter jet and Aegis missiles made about 17 per cent of its $47 billion of revenue abroad in 2012, or $8 billion. – (Reuters)