MEADS INTERNATIONAL SIGNS $9.5 MILLION TRANSITION EFFORT CONTRACT
ORLANDO, FL, November 15th, 1999 -- Good news was announced for MEADS International when leaders today signed a $9.5 million contract. The contract enables the team to begin a six-month Transition Effort (TE) for development of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS)--an effort that will transition to a three-year Risk Reduction Effort (RRE) technology development program to begin in the spring of next year.
The total contract is valued at more than $200 million. In May, the NATO MEADS Management Agency (NAMEADSMA) announced its selection of the Meads International team--comprised of Lockheed Martin from the United States, Alenia Marconi Systems from Italy, and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG from Germany--to develop technology for the MEADS. On hand for the signing ceremony were Brig.Gen. Hunrich Meunier, general manager of NAMEADSMA, members of the MEADS International team, led by president Werner Huss; and several members of the MEADS board of directors, chaired by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control vice president of Air & Missile Defense, Donald M. Lionetti. Huss, who will turn over leadership of MEADS International to Gert Runde on November 17, confirmed the need for a multinational defense system designed to protect maneuver forces. "The requirement that fostered the MEADS remains valid and urgent," Huss said. Runde agrees that the system is critically needed. "We're committed to developing an effective system that will defeat a real and proliferating threat, and I'm proud to be joining the team that will take this effort to the next level," he said from Germany.
The three-country Meads International team will focus on developing strategically transportable/tactically mobile equipment, including a lightweight launcher; a 360-degree fire control radar; and battle management, command, control and communications, according to Joel Strickland, the company's executive vice president. Strickland says the company will now proceed with its plans to capitalize on the significant progress achieved during the Project Definition-Validation phase, using the talented team of people who worked diligently to make the success of this transatlantic partnership a true testament to the warfighting soldier. Managed from its headquarters in Orlando, Fla., MEADS International combines the talents of several Lockheed Martin companies led by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando and Dallas, Tx., Alenia Marconi of Rome, Italy, and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG in Munich, Germany.
W.C. Wiese, 407-356-4792
e-mail: william.c.wiese@lmco.com
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