The Longbow Limited Liability Company (LLC), a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman Corp. [NOC], received a $90.6 million contract to provide Saudi Arabia with Longbow Fire Control Radars (FCRs) for the AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter.
The Foreign Military Sales contract award includes AH-64E Longbow FCRs, spares and support for the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command. The contract also includes Longbow FCRs for the Saudi Arabia National Guard and Longbow Mast Mounted Assemblies for the U.S. Army.
“Saudi Arabia is emerging as one of the largest international users of the Longbow systems,” said Mike Taylor, Longbow LLC president and director of Longbow programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “The AH-64E Longbow FCR’s new Radar Electronics Unit provides greater processing power and provision for significant growth while reducing weight and maintenance costs.”
“The Longbow FCR team values our ability to provide Saudi Arabia with a product that will promote greater regional security while providing warfighters with the highest level of protection,” said Mike Galletti, director of the Tactical Sensor Solutions-Aviation business unit for Northrop Grumman’s Land and Self Protection Systems Division.
The new build radars will be built in Orlando, Fla., and Baltimore, Md., a an LLC spokesman said. Deliveries for the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command will run from February-September 2015, and from October 2014 to March 2015 for the Saudi Arabia National Guard.
Since 1998, the Longbow FCR has provided Apache aircrews with target detection, location, classification and prioritization. In all weather, over multiple terrains and through any battlefield obscurant, the radar allows automatic and rapid multi-target engagement.