Mar 12 2010
The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a contract to support the Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (TADS/PNVS) and Modernized TADS/PNVS (M-TADS/PNVS) systems on the AH-64 Apache helicopter at the Arizona Support Center. The contract has a potential value of $36.8 million for the next three years.
Located in Gilbert, AZ, the Arizona Support Center inducts, refurbishes and modifies legacy TADS/PNVS components to incorporate into the modernized system (M-TADS/PNVS). The contract includes fielding activities associated with the modernization effort. Fielding activities will include sending a team of Orlando-based product support technicians to U.S. Army Apache locations worldwide to install and test newly modified M-TADS/PNVS systems on the aircraft.
"M-TADS/PNVS has consistently proven its effectiveness on the battlefield," said David Belvin, director of Apache M-TADS/PNVS and Support Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "This contract allows for the continued fielding of this crucial capability to the Warfighter."
M-TADS/PNVS is an advanced electro-optical fire control system that provides AH-64D Apache helicopter pilots with advanced targeting and pilotage capabilities that result in enhanced mission effectiveness during day, night and/or adverse-weather missions.
"Every Apache battalion deployed in support of current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is equipped with the M-TADS/PNVS system," said Col. Shane Openshaw, Program Manager for Apache. "The system is the number one Apache pilot request since 1997. Apache performance remains outstanding from the factory to the foxhole."