Northrop Grumman has received a $307 million contract for Lot 2 low-rate initial production of the RQ-4AGlobal Hawk unmanned air vehicle - four air vehicles for the USAir Force and two for the US Navy, plus associated sensor suites, launch/ recovery elements and mission control stations. ELAC Nautik, a German subsidiary of L-3 Communications, has won an initial $32 million contract for 20 helicopter long-range active sonar (HELRAS) systems for Italian and Netherlands navies NH Industries NH90s. Options for a further 40 systems could take the Lot 1 value to over $65 million. Raytheon is to produce 167 Tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles under a $225 million US Navy low-rate initial production Lot 2 contract. A $39 million US Air Force contract covers production of AGM-65D/G surface-to-air missiles for Bahrain, Oman, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates. USAir Force Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 25s and 30/32s will be retrofitted with BAE Systems' APX-113 advanced identification friend or foe systems under a contract potentially worth $100 million over five years. The company has also received a $485 million, 20-year contract to continue supporting F-16 automatic test equipment. Raytheon is to develop the airborne mine neutralisation system (AMNS) for the US Navy's Sikorsky MH-60R helicopter under an $18 million contract. Boeing has received the first low-rate initial production contract for the remanufacture of CH-47 Chinooks to CH-47F and MH-47G standards. The first handover is due in September 2004.
Source: Flight International
