Lockheed Martin [LMT] yesterday said it was awarded a contract potentially worth $36.8 million over three years from the Army 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 Arizona Support Center in Gilbert, Ariz., 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 Apache locations worldwide to install and test newly modified M-TADS/PNVS systems on the aircraft. Boeing [BA] is the prime contractor for Apache.
Col. Shane Openshaw, program manager for Apache, said, “Every Apache battalion deployed in support of current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is equipped with the M- TADS/PNVS system. The system is the number one Apache pilot request since 1997. Apache performance remains outstanding from the factory to the foxhole.”
David Belvin, director of Apache M-TADS/PNVS and Support Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said: “M-TADS/PNVS has consistently proven its effectiveness on the battlefield. 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 Apache pilots with advanced targeting and pilotage capabilities that result in enhanced mission effectiveness during day, night and/or adverse-weather missions.