A U.S. Air Force C-130J -- not the maritime version -- on display at Farnborough // staff

Lockheed Martin expects to sign the first sales contracts in North Africa for its planned Sea Hercules, a maritime patrol version of the C-130J tactical transport aircraft, a company executive said July 11 at the Farnborough International Airshow.

The first contracts for the SC-130J Sea Herc could be signed in North Africa with “a couple of countries,” said Jim Grant, vice president, new business for air mobility. Deals could be sealed before the next Paris airshow, he predicted.

The main missions would be border and shore protection, he said.

Lockheed is in “very significant discussions” on the Sea Hercules with countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, Grant said.

The SC-130J is “competitively priced,” Grant said. The Sea Herc is pitched midway between the heavy jet-engined Boeing P-8, which sells around $200 million, and the light twin-engined EADS Casa turboprop, with a price tag of just over $100 million.

Lockheed is very interested in the Indian Navy and Coast Guard’s requirement for reconnaissance aircraft and the company was keen to understand the requirements, he said.

The company is also interested in the Polish market and other countries in the region, with the Warsaw government expected to be a customer in the long term, although a sale of new C-130J aircraft was not expected, Grant said.

Lockheed unveiled the SC-130J maritime version at the Singapore airshow in February.