Britain's BAE Systems Plc said on Monday it will hire 300 workers at its Fort Worth, Texas, plant and other sites to upgrade over 130 South Korean F-16 fighter jets after finalizing a deal with the U.S. government it hopes to replicate in other places in Europe and Asia in coming years. BAE in 2012 beat out the maker of the jets, Lockheed Martin Corp, for the upgrade work, which could be worth over $1 billion, according to South Korean media reports.Historically the companies that make warplanes have also serviced them and carried out major upgrades, but tighter military budgets in the United States and Europe have spurred arms makers to look for business in new areas, such as upgrade work, since there are fewer major new acquisition programs.Erin Moseley, president of BAE Systems' Support Solutions sector, told Reuters the deal marked a significant expansion of BAE's F-16 modernization business. She added the company was in talks with other countries in Europe and Asia about similar work."A number of countries were watching to see if this model could be successful," Moseley said, noting that BAE already does about 40 percent of the work building and upgrading the avionics on the jets.
Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security and aerospace company principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems and products. Shares of LMT traded higher by 0.85% or $1.22/share to $144.21. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $85.88 and as high as $144.93. On average, 1671960 shares of LMT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1953617.
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