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Navy Awards Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems $6.4 Million Contract For Towed Arrays

SYRACUSE, NY, April 10th, 2000 -- Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems (LMIS) today announced that it has been awarded a $6.4 million contract from the U.S. Navy to commence production of the Navy's newest towed array sensor, designated the TB-29A. Prime contractor Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems-Syracuse (NE&SS-Syracuse) and its major subcontractor, L-3 Communications, will build five TB-29A towed arrays, an upgraded version of the TB-29 towed array currently in use. The Navy has only ten of the earlier version but has said it needs as many as 100 of the new TB-29As. Towed arrays are sensors attached by cables to surface ships and submarines, enabling them to detect acoustic energy.

LMIS received a $31.7 million order for engineering and manufacturing services for the upgraded sonar in December, 1998. The TB-29A will be half the cost of its TB-29 predecessor, with the same level of performance. Cost will be reduced by using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology adapted from the telecommunications industry. Also new is a lightweight tow cable that allows operation of the towed array in shallow littoral, or coastal, waters. The TB-29A will be towed by Los Angeles, Seawolf- and Virginia-class submarines.

NE&SS-Syracuse President Michael A. Smith said, "We are proud to begin production on the new generation of towed arrays. We made the first towed array for the Navy 40 years ago and continue to be the world leader in this technology. Because of this capability, we are committed to following an aggressive production schedule for the TB-29A and will deliver the first five to the Navy in 2001."

A leader in ground-based and airborne radar, surface vessel and submarine electronic warfare, ASW systems and sensors, minehunting systems and vessel traffic management, Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems-Syracuse serves customers including all branches of the U.S. armed forces, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Transportation and State, and defense and transportation departments of countries on six continents. NE&SS-Syracuse employs approximately 2,000 people at its Syracuse, N.Y., headquarters and is a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Ellen Mitchell (315) 456-3296