By Richard R. Burgess
Lockheed Martin
(LM) is reorganizing its array of defense electronics companies under two major new
companies in order to streamline its operations and provide "a more cohesive approach
to the U.S. and international military markets [the companies] serve," LM officials
have announced.
Under the realignment
plan, eight current LM Electronics Sector companies will be folded into the two new
organizations, focused on LM's naval systems and electronic warfare customers. The new
Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems organization comprises
Government Electronic Systems in Moorestown, N.J.; Ocean, Radar & Sensor Systems in
Syracuse, N.Y.; the Tactical Defense Systems businesses in Eagan, Minn., and Akron, Ohio;
and the undersea systems operations of Federal Systems in Manassas, Va.
Joseph D. Antinucci,
formerly president of LM Electronics & Missiles in Orlando, Fla., will serve as
president of Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems, which will be headquartered in
Moorestown. Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems has some 11,000 employees and
annual sales of approximately $2.6 billion in numerous areas of naval warfare, including
antisubmarine warfare and ocean surveillance systems; missile launching systems; ship
systems integration; and radar and sensor systems.
The new Lockheed Martin
Aerospace Electronics Systems includes Sanders in Nashua, N.H.; Fairchild Systems in
Syosset and Yonkers, N.Y.; IR Imaging Systems in Lexington, Mass., and the space
electronics business segment of Federal Systems in Manassas, Va.
Sanders president Albert
E. Smith also will serve as president of LM's Aerospace Electronics Systems, which will be
headquartered in Nashua. Aerospace Electronics Systems, with some 7,000 employees and
annual sales of approximately $1.4 billion, will have special expertise in integrated
electronic warfare systems, countermeasures, imaging sensor systems, and focal plane and
detector arrays.
Not involved in the
realignment are Control Systems (Johnson City, N.Y., and Fort Wayne, Ind.); Electronics
& Missiles (Orlando, Fla.); Vought Systems (Grand Prairie, Texas); and Electronics
Systems UK; Federal Systems-Owego (N.Y.); Lockheed Martin Canada; and Postal Systems, also
based in Owego. The latter four companies comprise the Sector's existing Electronics
Platform Integration organization.
"By linking selected
companies organizationally under a focused management team, we can better leverage key
technical and business strengths, more easily share best practices and, most importantly,
better serve our customers in each of the major markets in which we compete," said
Robert B. Coutts, Electronics Sector president and chief operating officer. "Our
objective in realigning businesses is to sharpen our customer focus, not to create new
bureaucracies that drive up costs and slow responsiveness," Coutts said.
AGM-154A JSOW
Enters Full-Rate Production
Raytheon Systems Company
(RSC) has been awarded a $133.9 million Naval Air Systems Command contract for full-rate
production (FRP) of the AGM-154A JSOW (Joint Standoff Weapon) and low-rate initial
production (LRIP) of the AGM-154B version of the JSOW. The contract includes follow-on
production options over the next three years worth more than $600 million.
The Lot 1 FRP will
include 328 AGM-154A JSOWS for the Navy and 75 for the Air Force. FRP deliveries will
begin in March 2000. The Navy and Air Force plan to procure approximately 11,800
AGM-154As.
The Lot 1 LRIP of the
AGM-154B version includes three for the Navy and 21 for the Air Force. Deliveries are
scheduled to begin in December 1999. The Navy and Air Force plan to order a total of
approximately 4,800 AGM-154Bs.
The fiscal year 1999
production orders follow the orders of 100 JSOWs in FY1997 (deliveries completed) and 180
in FY 1998 (deliveries ongoing). After a successful development phase, JSOW was declared
"operationally effective" and "operationally suitable" by the Navy
eight months ahead of schedule, and was deployed in late 1997 to arm the F/A-18C Hornet
strike fighters on board the
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN) USS Nimitz. JSOWs also were available to
Hornet squadrons on the CVN USS Enterprise during Operation Desert Fox in December
1998.
JSOW is a
1,000-pound-class air-to-surface unpowered glide bomb with a 15-40 mile range, depending
on the speed and altitude of the launching aircraft. The JSOW's range allows weapon launch
at safe standoff distances from enemy point defenses. The JSOW is guided to its target by
a series of waypoints programmed into its global positioning system/inertial navigation
system, and thus does not require a clear line of sight from the launching aircraft, nor
laser designation or terminal guidance from the pilot. The AGM-154A is fitted with a
cluster warhead; the AGM-154B incorporates a BLU-108 anti-armor warhead. The AGM-154C
version will be armed with a unitary warhead and a man-in-the-loop data link.
"JSOW is the first
of the new generation of smart weapons to be delivered in the coming years," said
Dale Reis, a Raytheon senior vice president and general manager of RSC's Defense Systems
Segment. "The revolution in strike warfare is here," he said.
Halter Marine to
Build Sixth Pathfinder AGS
The Naval Sea Systems
Command has awarded a contract to Halter Marine Group to build a sixth Pathfinder-class
oceanographic survey ship, T-AGS 65. Halter Marine will begin construction in March 1999
and has scheduled delivery for December 2001.
The contract, worth $53.6
million, "indicates the Navy is pleased with the design, construction, performance,
and dollar value of the five other T-AGS 60-class vessels designed, built, or under
construction by Halter," said John Dane III, chairman, president, and CEO of Halter
Marine Group.
The Navy operates four
Pathfinder T-AGSs; a fifth, the Bruce C. Heezen, is under construction at Halter's
yard in Moss Point, Miss. The 5,000-ton ships of the Pathfinder class perform physical,
chemical, and biological oceanography missions; carry out multidiscipline environmental
investigations; and also carry out important tasks in ocean engineering and marine
acoustics, marine geology and geophysics, and bathymetric, gravimetric, and magnetometric
surveys. The ships' crews use sophisticated onboard processors to analyze the data
collected.
Each of the 329-foot-long
ships is propelled by a common-bus diesel-electric drive system equipped with Z-drives to
allow precise positioning through dynamic positioning controls. The 4,000-square-foot
laboratory complex and 3,500-square-foot working deck (which can accommodate four 20-foot
vans) on each Pathfinder provide a wealth of space for performing the ship's numerous
missions. The typical crew consists of 25 officers and crew members and 27 scientists and
technicians.
Lockheed Martin
Proposes SLAP Assessment for P-3
Lockheed Martin
Aeronautical Systems (LMAS) has submitted to the Navy a proposal for a service-life
assessment program (SLAP) for the P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The company has
proposed: (a) carrying out full-scale fatigue testing of a P-3C; (b) tearing down the
aircraft; and (c) conducting an analysis of the airframe. The results of the test would be
used to develop a kit that would extend aircraft life "for an additional 20
years," company officials said.
LMAS received a contract
in 1995 to conduct a Phase I SLAP study, the results of which were used to establish
benchmarks for the fatigue test. During Phase I, LMAS also received a Project Kestrel
contract from the Royal New Zealand Air Force to extend the service life of its P-3K
Orions. LMAS delivered the first Kestrel program P-3K in November 1998.
There are now more than
550 Orions in service with 15 nations. LMAS officials said the SLAP and Kestrel contracts
position the company to compete for a potential $1 billion in follow-on contracts to
install P-3 service-life extension kits.
LMAS also is currently
conducting full-scale fatigue testing of the S-3 Viking sea-control aircraft as part of a
SLAP to determine requirements to extend the life of that aircraft to 2015.
Harpoon Block II
Cleared for EMD
Boeing's Block II upgrade
of its Harpoon antiship cruise missile has been approved by the Navy for engineering and
manufacturing development (EMD). The Program Executive Office for Cruise Missiles and
Joint Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has entered into a joint agreement with Boeing to provide
test and evaluation support and program management, while Boeing funds development of the
missile.
The Block II Harpoon, an
upgrade of the Block IG version, is fitted with a global positioning/inertial navigation
system and the mission computer, software, antenna, and receiver developed for the AGM-84H
SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response). The upgrade will enable the
Harpoon to attack coastal, pierside, and land targets such as coastal defense sites,
missile launch sites, port facilities, parked aircraft, and pierside ships. Harpoon Block
II--expected to reach initial operational capability in 2001--will be deployable from all
current Harpoon launch platforms.
Although the Harpoon is
now in production only for foreign customers, the Navy will support the Block II
development with government-furnished equipment. In return, the Navy will "reap the
benefits of a more advanced cruise missile in the future, without investing money
today," Navy officials said.
In a related development,
Boeing has been awarded a $245 million Naval Air Systems Command contract to produce 245
Harpoon missiles and four ballistic air test vehicles, as well as associated components,
kits, and containers. The missiles will be delivered under the Foreign Military Sales
Program to customers in Egypt, Taiwan, Turkey, Israel, South Korea, Canada, the United
Arab Emirates, Spain, and Germany.
Defense Industry
Notes
The National Steel and
Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) has completed the addition of a 200-foot extension to its
graving dock at its yard in San Diego. The extension (to 785 feet) will allow the
company to accommodate large ships such as Wasp-class and Tarawa-class amphibious assault
ships. NASSCO, now operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, will
perform phased maintenance on three LHAs and three LHDs over a seven-year period under a
$490 million Navy contract.
The Navy has exercised
its option to fund the construction of two more Arleigh Burke-class Aegis
guided-missile destroyers by Ingalls Shipbuilding. The original multiyear contract
specified the construction of six ships, with options for two additional ships.
Raytheon has been
awarded a $218 million Navy follow-on contract to provide engineering, fabrication,
integration, and installation support for the Navy's COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf)
and "militarized" communications systems. Among the systems "addressed
in ... the contract," com-pany officials said, are various high frequency, fiber
optic, digital data transmission, information exchange, and satellite communications
systems, "and their supporting space and terrestrial connectivity systems."
Westinghouse Electric
Corporation has been awarded two Naval Sea Systems Command contracts totaling $183
million to produce naval nuclear propulsion components.
Boeing has been
awarded an $86 million Navy contract to support the Marine Corps' AV-8B Harrier II attack
aircraft. The contract also provides for integration of the Raytheon-built AIM-120
AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) into Harriers flown by the Spanish and
Italian navies.
Newport News
Shipbuilding has been awarded a $35 million Navy contract for design support,
engineering, and technical services for the Navy's Seawolf-class nuclear-powered
submarines.
General Dynamics Land
Systems' AAAV (Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle) program has been selected as a
recipient of Government Executive Magazine's 1998 Government Technology Leadership
Award. The AAAV program, one of 20 winners (out of 200 entries received from the
Federal government), was cited for the quality and productivity of its Virtual Design
Database.
DRS Technologies has
been awarded two contracts--totaling $37.9 million--from Lockheed Martin Tactical
Defense Systems to produce UYQ-70 advanced display systems and other equipment for
installation on a variety of ships in service or under construction: Virginia- and Los
Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarines, Ohio-class nuclear-powered
ballistic-missile submarines, Arleigh-Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyers,
Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided-missile cruisers, Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft
carriers, and San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks, as well as E-2C radar early
warning aircraft.
Litton Sperry Marine has
been awarded a contract to provide a "Smart Ship" integrated bridge system
(IBS) for the Navy's seventh Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, the Iwo Jima, currently
under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. The bridge's design will
be based on the IBS installed on the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry
S. Truman.
The government of Greece
has announced its intent to purchase 45 T-6A Texan II training aircraft from
Raytheon Aircraft Company, according to Aviation Week magazine. The
aircraft--in production for the U.S. Air Force and Navy as their primary training
aircraft--was selected over the Pilatus PC-9 and the Embraer Super Tucano aircraft, the
magazine reported.
Raytheon Systems
Company's Naval and Maritime Systems Division has been awarded a $22 million contract
for three SSDSs (ship self-defense systems) that will be installed on the
Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan and the San
Antonio-class amphibious transport docks San Antonio and New Orleans.
Boeing's F/A-18F Super
Hornet has successfully fired two armed AGM-88 HARMs (High-Speed Antiradiation
Missiles) at land-range sites (simulating surface-to-air missile systems) at the Naval Air
Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif. Both missiles scored "direct
hits on their respective targets," the Navy said.
Analysis &
Technology's VECTOR Research Division has been awarded a $23 million Naval Surface
Warfare Center contract to provide research and development services for propulsion
and auxiliary machinery for the Navy's Surface Combatant for the 21st Century (SC-21)
initiative. Under the contract, the company will support efforts to develop
energy-efficient and highly automated ships able to survive against future attacks from
antiship cruise missiles.
The Lockheed
Martin-built C-130J Hercules transport aircraft has performed its first operational
mission. A C-130J flown by a three-man company crew delivered 83,000 pounds of
relief supplies to victims of Hurricane Mitch in Central America. The supplies were
loaded and unloaded using an enhanced cargo handling system that is now standard equipment
on the C-130Js being purchased by the U.S. military. The aircraft used on the mission will
eventually be delivered to the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a WC-130J weather reconnaissance
aircraft.
Phillip B. Kimball has
been appointed as executive director of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine
Engineers. Kimball, a marine consultant for many years, served as vice president of
three companies in the marine field and, at the time of his appointment, as president and
CEO of Tecnitas North America, a technical consulting firm.
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