Lockheed scores $311M optical electronics deal

Lockheed has won a contract from the Army to produce the new Arrowhead electro-optical targeting and night-vision system for AH-64 Apache combat helicopter pilots.

Lockheed Martin has won a $311 million follow-on contract from the Army to produce the new Arrowhead electro-optical targeting and night-vision system for AH-64 Apache combat helicopter pilots.

The Lot 4 agreement calls for the production of 158 Arrowhead kits for some of the remaining Army and foreign military sales inventory, as well as for wartime replacement of the target designation sight and night vision sensor systems in new aircraft. The contract also includes spares for both.

The Arrowhead kit upgrades the infrared sensors and associated electronics currently used by Apache pilots.

The kit will expand the capabilities of Apache aviators, significantly enhance flight safety and give pilots improved targeting capability especially at night, according to the company.

Lockheed Martin will produce Lot 4 in Orlando and Ocala, Fla., with final deliveries scheduled for December 2009.

The company won the first Arrowhead production contract in November 2003, and delivered the first system to the Army in May 2005.

Lockheed Martin of Bethesda has about 140,000 employees and had annual sales of $39.6 billion in fiscal 2006. The company ranks No. 1 on Washington Technology's 2006 Top 100 list of the largest federal IT contractors.