New avionics, radar, and other systems on Navy MH-60R helicopter part of latest contract awarded to Lockheed Martin

Posted by John McHale WASHINGTON, 14 Jan, 2011. The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a variety of production and development contracts totaling $360 million for the MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, which are sued for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare. The end-of-year awards cover a number of systems aboard the MH-60R, including avionics and radar. The Navy exercised a $38 million option under the current multi-year contract to cover production of the next lot of common cockpits for MH-60S and MH-60R helicopters. The bulk of the work will be performed at Lockheed Martin's facility in Owego, N.Y., and is scheduled for completion by April 2013. Additionally, the Navy will provide MH-60R/S crews with improved situational awareness by incorporating Lockheed Martin's Situational Awareness Technology Insertion (SATI) aboard the aircraft under a $35 million contract. The award covers a pre-development iteration of SATI, an eight-component package of upgrades and improvements to the helicopter's flight management system. Improvements include a new integrated digital map to give pilots a clear picture of their operating area, and an upgrade to the identification friend-or-foe (IFF) system. The IFF upgrade will prevent interference during transmission and ensure interoperability with the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies. "The Navy's investment in the MH-60R fleet ensures our pilots and aircrews have the best and most advanced equipment for every mission," says Capt. Dean Peters, U.S. Navy MH-60 program manager. "We are looking for reliable, modern aircraft upgraded efficiently and affordably, and that's why we have devoted these resources to the MH-60 fleet."One of the most highly advanced systems aboard the MH-60R -- Automatic Radar Periscope Detection and Discrimination (ARPDD) -- will transition from system development and demonstration (SDD) to production under a $36 million contract award. The Telephonics radar used in ARPDD is the latest iteration of the radar currently deployed with the MH-60R, but adds a new mode requiring improved radar performance and eight times the processing power of the previous version. This contract award covers the infrastructure required to meet full-rate production and the fielding of the ARPDD radar system aboard six MH-60R production aircraft to support initial operational capability in 2013. Construction of the next lot of 24 MH-60R mission avionics suites and 18 MH-60S cockpits will begin under a $72 million Multi-Year II advanced acquisition contract award that covers long-lead items for the helicopters and cockpit systems. Lockheed Martin and partner Sikorsky Aircraft have delivered more than 85 MH-60R helicopters to date and are on track to reach 100 early in 2011. Lockheed Martin was also awarded a $179 million funding increment under a $1.4 billion performance-based logistics (PBL) contract signed between the U.S. Navy and the Maritime Helicopter Support Company (MHSCo), a Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky Aircraft joint venture. The "tip-to-tail" contract ensures full support to the Navy's fleet of 490 H-60 helicopters, Lockheed Martin officials say. The PBL contract is the largest of its kind for a fully operational naval aircraft fleet. The PBL arrangement continues a long-standing maintenance and logistics partnership between MHSCo and the Navy, and extends the coverage of the fleet out to January 2015.

New avionics, radar, and other systems on Navy MH-60R helicopter part of latest contract awarded to Lockheed Martin

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