LANCASTER, Pa., 11 March 2005. Herley Industries, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded contracts totaling $6.5 million to supply flight termination receivers and hybrids for two U.S. military programs.
In a $4.2 million contract, the company will make flight-termination receivers for the AMRAAM missile program. And in a $2.3 million contract, the company will supply hybrids for an ongoing munitions weapon program in its third production year.
First deployed in 1991, Raytheon's AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) has all-weather, beyond-visual-range capability to take advantage of the long-range target detection capabilities offered by the advanced radar systems of modern-day warplanes.
To become less dependent on the aircraft's fire-control system, it uses active radar in conjunction with an inertial reference unit and microcomputer. Once the missile closes in on the target, its active radar guides it to intercept. This enables the pilot to aim and fire several missiles simultaneously at multiple targets, then perform evasive maneuvers while the missiles guide themselves to the targets.
The AMRAAM is being procured for use on U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet (and variants), U.S. Air Force F-15, F-16, and F-22 fighter jets, and NATO jets including the AV-8B and Eurofighter.
"Herley has been involved in both programs for many years, and they continue to be solid contributors to the company's revenues and profits. We are in year three on one program and year twelve on the other, with several years of production ahead of us," said company president John Kelley.
"Herley is in a unique industry. Contract awards for new products require significant amounts of up-front engineering, but once these programs enter full production, defense companies like Herley can be in production for years with only minimal sustaining engineering.
"The above mentioned programs are also good examples of the types of business we look to find. We often talk about our 'batting average,' a reference to Herley's ongoing search for 'singles, doubles and an occasional triple or home run.' Herley seeks programs with multi-year production cycles which improve the probability of healthy profitability. If we are correct and we select the right programs during this process, our batting average improves and we reap the financial benefits when contracts enjoy long-term production runs."
Herley Industries, Inc. is a leader in the design, development and manufacture of microwave technology solutions for the defense, aerospace and medical industries worldwide. Based in Lancaster, Pa., Herley has eight manufacturing locations and more than 900 employees. For more information see www.herley.com.
