SYRACUSE, N.Y., 23 June 2008. Lockheed Martin won a $10 million contract to produce and support Multi-Function Towed Arrays (MFTAs) for the U.S. Navy's AN/SQQ-89 Antisubmarine Warfare Combat System. The work will be performed at Lockheed Martin's Syracuse, N.Y., facility.

The MFTA is the next generation passive and active sonar receiver, configured as a long three inch diameter array that can be towed behind surface ships. It provides several enhancements to the legacy AN/SQR-19 Tactical Towed Array System (TACTAS) enabling greater coverage and increased capability and reliability. The MFTA significantly contributes to the capability of surface ships to detect, localize, and prosecute undersea threats, and is a critical sensor for the ship's combat systems suite, Lockheed Martin officials say.

"We have leveraged the lessons-learned from the Navy's prototype array to simplify construction, improve reliability and reduce life cycle costs," says Denise Saiki, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Undersea Systems business."

The MFTA is the first new surface ship array to be built for the U.S. Navy in twenty five years. This array will be integrated with AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 systems installed aboard guided missile destroyers and cruisers. More than fifty U.S. Navy ships are equipped with the AN/SQQ-89 system. The MFTA is also slated for use on DDG-1000 and the Littoral Combat Ship.

For this contract, Lockheed Martin is collaborating with Chesapeake Science Corporation in Millersville, Md.