DRS secures Navy missile electronics subcontract

DRS Technologies Inc. has won a $9.6 million subcontract from Lockheed Martin Corp. to provide launch control electronics for the Navy's MK 41 Vertical Launching System, the company announced today.

DRS of Parsippany, N.J., will produce and support the launch control and power distribution subsystems of the MK 41 VLS on the Navy's Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyers as well as the ships of allied navies.

This equipment provides electronic control functions that are critical to the missile launch sequence, distributes electrical power to vital launching system components and provides systems status and health monitoring.

The work will be performed by the DRS' Training and Control Systems unit based in Fort Walton, Fla. Product deliveries will be made through 2006.

The MK 41 VLS is installed below deck and provides the capability to fire a variety of missiles, including anti-air, antisubmarine, surface-to-surface and strike.

DRS Technologies is a provider of electronics and mission-critical systems for the defense, intelligence and commercial sectors. The company has about 5,800 employees and annual sales of $1 billion.