Secretary of State for Defence, Dr Liam Fox, joined Lockheed Martin in recognising the talent of young engineers in the Tri@RIAT challenge at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. Dr Fox, hosted by Lockheed Martin President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Kubasik, visited the show arena to watch five teams of air cadets pit their skills against each other in building a model aircraft able to drop a cargo payload into a targeted area.

Dr Fox was particularly impressed by the efforts of winning team, Chrissy Haine, Nicky Wearing and Adam Kilmister, as they demonstrated their engineering potential in building an aircraft and providing it with the necessary capability. The Secretary of State and Mr Kubasik then presented prizes to the winning team, who all live in Gloucestershire. The cadets also met Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshall Sir Stephen Dalton. Each team was mentored by an expert from Lockheed Martin, with Jack Andrew, who works for Lockheed Martin UK - Integrated Systems, providing the winners with some expert guidance.

The Tri@RIAT challenge for Air Cadets was sponsored by Lockheed Martin and followed by a similar event on the second day of the Tattoo when teams from schools in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire competed. This time, the winning team was from The Cotswold School, Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, who were presented with their prizes by Lockheed Martin Aero Executive Vice President Tom Burbage.