By Andrea Shalal
DUBAI (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp (N:LMT) on Tuesday said it was in initial talks with Saudi Arabia about the sale of 20 more Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters in addition to a $1.9 billion deal for 10 helicopters that should be finalized by year's end.
The company is now finalizing the initial contract and should complete it this year, Barry McCullough, vice president of international business development for Lockheed's Mission Systems and Training business, told Reuters in an interview.
In addition, he said Saudi Arabia was interested in buying 10 more MH-60R multi-mission helicopters and 10 light utility helicopters, a need which Lockheed believed it could meet with a less capable version of the MH-60R.
"We just started talking to them about it. These are initial discussions," he said.
He said the Saudi government would need to submit a separate request for the helicopters, but it would likely opt for a sole-source contract and not launch a competition for the additional helicopters, a move that could result in maintenance savings.
Lockheed last week completed its $9 billion acquisition of Sikorsky Aircraft from United Technologies Corp (N:UTX). Sikorsky is being integrated into Lockheed's mission systems and training business.
The U.S. government in May approved the initial sale of the 10 MH-60R helicopters and associated equipment to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has also expressed interest in buying a large number of Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in the "relatively near term", he said.