Jane Edwards
The Connecticut General Assembly has approved a $220 million incentive package to keep the factory of Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky subsidiary in the state and increase the helicopter business’ workforce to more than 8,000 by 2032, Connecticut Post reported Wednesday.
Ken Dixon writes Sikorsky will build 200 CH-53K King Stallion helicopters at its Stratford, Connecticut-based manufacturing facility as part of the deal, which is included in the Connecticut Strategic Defense Investment Act.
Lockheed will receive up to $8.6 million in annual incentives over a 14-year period and $5.7 million in annual sales tax exemptions from the state government in exchange for job creation, in-state supplier assistance and other investments over the deal’s 16-year term, Dixon reports.
The state legislature’s approval comes a week after Lockheed and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy signed the proposed incentive package.
Lockheed acquired Sikorsky from United Technologies Corp. for approximately $9 billion in November 2015.
CH-53K is a heavy-lift helicopter designed to provide maritime- and ground-based logistics support to the U.S. Marine Corps and has fly-by-wire flight controls, aircraft survivability equipment and ballistic protection tools.
