Six aircraft maintenance engineer apprentices joined Lockheed Martin Australia in 2026 and are now embedded with the Army at Holsworthy Base. Their course runs for four years and combines formal training with hands-on experience alongside seasoned aviation professionals.
Along the way they will pick up the specialist skills needed to inspect, service, repair, test and troubleshoot aircraft systems and components. The company says it wants the workforce to grow in step with the Black Hawk capability.
“Introducing six new aircraft maintenance engineer apprentices into the Black Hawk program is an important investment,” said Rodahn Gibbon, Black Hawk program manager at Lockheed Martin Australia. “Over the next four years, they’ll develop the expertise and knowledge required to support the Black Hawk fleet, while growing the depth of experience we need as the fleet matures.”
The program’s first intake was on the logistics side: three trainees who started in June 2025. They have since finished a 12-month Certificate IV in Supply Chain Operations at Lockheed Martin Australia’s Black Hawk logistics warehouse in Sydney, learning to inspect, track and manage high-value, regulated military aircraft components.
The model comes from Sikorsky Australia, which has trained aviation maintenance and logistics professionals for years through its Seahawk apprenticeship program. It brought in six new Seahawk apprentices in 2026 and now employs 17, about 20% of its technical workforce.
Sikorsky Australia puts more than $1 million a year into that program, which has produced 17 fully qualified aircraft technicians so far. “Building the workforce behind the aircraft is fundamental to sustaining ‘Hawk’ capability in Australia,” said Cliff Kyle, the company’s general manager.
“Our apprenticeship and trainee programs form a core pillar of our future workforce strategy,” Kyle said. He added: “We’re now bringing that experience to the Black Hawk program, fostering a skilled workforce that will be critical to maintaining these fleets for decades to come.”
