BAE wins weapons systems contracts

BAE Systems has won contracts totaling $170 million from the Army and Air Force to develop and upgrade weapons systems, the company announced today.

In the first deal, BAE Systems Information and Electronics Warfare Systems of Nashua, N.H., has won a five-year, $111 million contract from the Army's Communication and Electronics Command to supply a family of next-generation thermal weapon sights for soldiers.

The contract could be worth $250 million if all options are exercised, the company said.

BAE will develop the thermal weapon sight with Team Soldier at Fort Belvoir, Va., a military program to develop and field everything that the modern soldier wears, carries and operates.

The thermal weapon sight program will give the Army with the ability to detect and engage targets day or night, under all weather and battlefield conditions. The sight enables gunners to see deep into the battlefield, thus increasing their surveillance and target acquisition range.

The contract funds the qualification of all thermal weapon sight design for three separate variants designed to support light, medium and heavy weapons and the manufacture of up to 28,000 units with options.

In the second deal, BAE Systems Information and Electronics Warfare Systems won three follow-on contracts from the Air Force for weapon systems upgrades to the EC-130H Compass Call aircraft. The contracts total $59 million.

The company won a $19 million contract to complete Block 35 integration upgrades, a $24 million contract for Block 35 Lot 4 aircraft upgrades and a $16 million prime mission engineering support services contract.

Compass Call is a modified version of the Air Force's C-130 Hercules aircraft, which has been configured to perform tactical command, control and communications countermeasures.

BAE Systems Information and Electronics Warfare Systems is part of BAE Systems plc of Farnborough, England. BAE Systems has about 100,000 employees and annual sales of $19.5 billion. The company was ranked No. 10 on Washington Technology 2003 Top 100 list, which measures federal contracting revenue.