U.S. Defense Contractors Focus on Foreign Buyers

It’s been more than a decade since the U.S. military bought any of Lockheed Martin’s F-16 fighter jets. But manufacturing continues at the defense giant’s plant in Fort Worth, where about 400 workers turn out as many as two dozen planes a year, thanks to buyers that have included Israel, Oman, and Iraq. “International is the business that keeps the F-16 production lines open,” says Patrick Dewar, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin International, a division the world’s largest defense contractor created this year to boost foreign sales. “It was a recognition that our corporation had the capabilities to do more and deliver better to those customers,” he says.