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Daily News
By Gail Helmer

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Thursday May 30, 2002

Military News
Raytheon Awarded AMRAAM Production
Raytheon Company has received a $165 million contract for continued production of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), with five additional annual options that bring the potential contract value to nearly $2 billion over the next eight years. The award was made by the U.S. Air Force Air Armament Center Counterair Joint Systems Program Office (JSPO), Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

"I am pleased to announce this important contract award to Raytheon," said Col. Jim Knox, the Counterair JSPO acting program director. "This award marks the initial production of AMRAAM P3I Phase 3, the latest version of AMRAAM in our evolutionary plans to deliver the most capable and affordable counterair weapon to our pilots."

The AMRAAM P3I Phase 3 production configuration incorporates new commercial processors, rehosted software and enhancements in the radar signal processing chain. These changes enable improved resistance to electronic attack.



AMRAAM is a software-driven, radar-guided missile that gives pilots the ability to "launch and leave" and to engage multiple targets during a single engagement. AMRAAM is fully operational on the F-15, F-16, F/A-18, the German F4F, the UK Sea Harrier, Swedish JA-37 Viggen and the JAS-39 Gripen. It is currently being integrated on the F-22, Eurofighter, Harrier II Plus, Tornado and the Joint Strike Fighter. AMRAAM has also been adapted to a surface-to-air role for air defense and is operational in Norway as the Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) and has been demonstrated in a HAWK- AMRAAM system and on a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV)- based system called HUMRAAM.

Moog Awarded USAF Contract for F-15 Eagle
Moog Inc. announced today that the U.S. Air Force at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, has awarded the company a contract for the repair of flight control hardware. The initial order, with a value of $2.2 million, calls for repairs to Pitch and Roll Channel Assemblies and Aileron Rudder Interconnects to be performed within a one-year period. Long-term follow-on options with an additional value of nearly $10 million extend through the year 2007.

Moog designed the hardware for the F-15 in the late '60's under contract for McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing). Moog's workload on this contract will supplement the USAF depot at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, providing a second source of repair for the USAF and eliminating any repair backlogs.



The F-15 Eagle is an all-weather tactical fighter designed to maintain air superiority by the U.S. Air Force through a mixture of maneuverability, acceleration, range, weapons, and avionics.

"This contract award reflects the U.S. Air Force's commitment to readiness. Its significance to us," said R.T. Brady, Chairman and CEO, "is the recognition that Moog's repair capability and technical expertise are required in order to keep the F-15 flying."

Army Begins Fielding Strykers
The first Stryker Interim Armoured Vehicles are now being shipped to Fort Lewis in Washington from manufacturing facilities in Anniston, Alabama and London, Ontario. The Military Traffic Management Command is shipping the new family of combat vehicles by commercial truck carriers to the two Interim Brigade Combat Teams at Fort Lewis.

The first Strykers are among more than 600 that will eventually be shipped to Fort Lewis, said Brian Ridgway, project officer. The Strykers are the Army's first new armoured vehicles in 18 years. The Army has a $4 billion contract with the joint venture team of General Motors and General Dynamics Land Systems Defense Group LLC that calls for the production of 2,100 Stryker vehicles in the next six years.



The Stryker will be the primary weapons platform for the Interim Brigade Combat Teams. It will assist the teams in covering the near-term deployments gap as the Army transforms to a more deployable force. The first units to receive the Strykers are the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division and the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. Both brigades are expected to be equipped and ready for deployment during fiscal years 2003 and 2004, respectively.

Other units that will receive the Stryker include the 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate), Fort Richardson, Alaska; the 2nd Armoured Cavalry Regiment (Light), Fort Polk, La.; the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; and the 56th Brigade, 28th Infantry Division (Mechanised), Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

The Stryker vehicle can operate at 60 mph. and has a cruising range of 312 miles. The vehicle may be shipped by C-130 aircraft and is combat capable upon arrival in a contingency area. The Stryker family will have 10 different configurations, including: Infantry carrier, mobile gun system, reconnaissance, fire support and medical evacuation vehicles.


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