About Timothy Cahill
In February 2022, Timothy Cahill, then Senior Vice President of Global Business Development and Strategy at Lockheed Martin, spoke at the Singapore Airshow about weapons demand and the company's partnerships. He stated that while events like the tensions in Ukraine draw attention to defense needs, a longer-term trend of various entities threatening security drives the broader market. Cahill noted demand in the Asia region for maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare helicopters, combat aircraft like the F-16 and F-35, and air defense systems, as well as a push to connect systems and maximize heritage platforms.
Cahill expressed disappointment that Lockheed Martin's proposed acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne fell through, saying the company saw synergies and benefits for the U.S. government and international partners. He emphasized that partnerships do not always require mergers, citing collaborations with MHI in Japan, helicopter production in Japan and South Korea, and work with the Australian government and in India. Cahill also discussed a partnership with Airbus for a strategic tanker to compete for a U.S. Air Force contract, describing it as an opportunity to combine Lockheed's airlift experience with a proven Airbus system. He described hypersonic technology as coming to the forefront, with nations fielding or developing such systems, and said that while virtual communication has become a norm, human contact remains necessary for engaging with partners and customers.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Timothy Cahill's recent appearances.
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Transcript (13 segments)
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Interviewer0:10
Weapons, what are you seeing at Lockheed?
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Timothy Cahill0:12
Well, certainly it's Linda, and by the way, it's wonderful to be here with you this morning. Wonderful Singapore. You know, certainly events like Ukraine and elsewhere in the world kind of bring attention to this, but I think there's a longer-term trend here. There are a lot of entities out there, big and small, who are threatening security in a lot of different ways. They're using high technology, they're using different ways of infiltration, and that has driven, I think, a broadened interest in national security, security for economies, and I think that drives the broader market more than perhaps these individual blips, but they certainly bring a little bit of attention to it.
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Interviewer0:46
For us, what are they wanting though when it comes to all these weapons and aircraft? Do they go beyond the F-16s? What are you seeing right now?
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Timothy Cahill0:55
Well, I think certainly, for example, across this region, we see a drive toward getting the most out of what you have, including your heritage systems that you already have in place. So all those are factors. And, by the way, things like airlift and helicopters are important for response to humanitarian disasters and natural events, and so we see these kinds of things happening across this region and across the world.
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Interviewer1:31
Tim, we know that Lockheed Martin's been looking for partnerships, but that $4.4 billion deal with Aerojet was scrapped. Where do you go from here?
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Timothy Cahill1:41
Well, of course we're disappointed the Aerojet deal fell through. We thought there were some great synergies there and some benefits for the United States government and for our international partners. But you know, there are so many different places to build partnerships. It doesn't always have to be mergers and acquisitions, and there's plenty of other places we can go in that area as well. We're working with the Australian government to build systems down there, and in India. So there are a lot of other partnerships; we don't have to necessarily just rely upon mergers.
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Interviewer2:19
Let's talk a little bit about the partnership with Airbus when it comes to the strategic tanker to take on Boeing at the next U.S. Air Force competition. Why?
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Timothy Cahill2:32
Well, there's a tremendous opportunity to take 60 years of experience in airlift capability of Lockheed Martin with a proven system coming out of Airbus and the ability to build that within the United States for the United States Air Force, which has a great need for air tanker capability in the future. So that's why we think we've got a great product, we think the time is right, we had a great partner. Now is as good as any.
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Interviewer3:11
And do you see an improvement?
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Timothy Cahill3:16
Well, I think it depends a little bit on the product itself. Certainly, any time that we are exporting product out of the United States, it's very clear that that's a key element to work with our partners in the United States government and make sure our allies can get that capability. We just need to take the time and work that through. But we're also continuing to build capability within individual countries. We're building Australian capability, we're building Japanese capability, we're building Indian capability, capability here in Singapore with our partners. So the more we do those kinds of things, the easier it is, I think, for us to overcome some of those technological barriers and ensure that our customers get the capability they need.
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Interviewer3:54
Tim, we talked about how around the world there are either already fielding those systems or they are developing those systems rapidly. So now is the time, I think, where certainly from the United States, and it's going to be Australia probably next, and other nations are saying we need to have that kind of capability to make sure that we can deter a war and we can respond, and then ultimately we need to be able to defend against those systems.
Just a quick question before we let you go. So much question about where travel goes from here. How will travel change over the next few years, you think?
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Timothy Cahill4:41
Well, I'm concerned that maybe it won't change so much. Certainly, I think us continuing to be safe and respond to these variants as they come out is going to be critically important. I think we can leverage what we've learned during the pandemic. Virtual calling has become a norm now; we can engage with our customers, but fundamentally still...
