Lockheed Martin today announced that Harris Corporation and Embraer have joined its team in the competition to develop the U.S. Army's next generation Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance system, known as the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS).

The Lockheed Martin-led team is currently conducting architecture development activities as part of a 15-month Component Advanced Development contract awarded in 2002. Lockheed Martin was one of two contractors selected in 2002 to continue development of the ACS system as a result of a competitive Concept Exploration design phase.

"The addition of Harris and Embraer further adds to the best of industry team we are putting together to provide an incredibly more capable system for our customer," said Wes Colburn, deputy vice president Lockheed Martin ISR Systems. "We are excited to combine our expertise with that of our partners in designing and producing Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems that will be able to meet the warfighters needs for the next several decades."

The ACS system is designed to replace the Army's GUARDRAIL/Common Sensor and the Airborne Reconnaissance Low Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems. ACS is designed to carry multiple intelligence sensors, providing a synergistic system that will be rapidly deployable, can be tailored to the specific needs of the warfighter in the field, and can be scaled to meet the needs of the land force commander. This system is a leading element in the Army's transformation to the objective force of the future.

Harris will lead the development of the communications portion of the Core Information System and also play a key leadership role in development of the Intelligence Processing System. Harris will assist Lockheed Martin in maturing the current communications architecture for ACS including various VHF and UHF radios, airborne SATCOM, and the common data link. They will provide key SIGINT/IMINT Exploitation technologies for the ACS system to enable the next generation of Intelligence Processing Systems to provide the warfighter with near real-time actionable intelligence.

"We are very pleased to not only help define the communication architecture for the Lockheed Martin ACS team but also to support the team with our extensive intelligence processing capability," said Bob Henry, senior vice president, Harris Corporation and president, Harris Government Communications Systems Division.

For the Lockheed Martin designed ACS system, Embraer will provide an airframe based on the ERJ 145/EMB 145 already in service around the world. Along with exterior modifications to accommodate a range of antennas the aircraft will be modified for extended range and payload capacity.

Embraer's recent announcement of producing aircraft in Jacksonville, Florida, will fully qualify the company as a compliant U.S. government supplier for defense and homeland security programs.

"Embraer is very proud to bring our expertise in surveillance aircraft production to this very strong team, and we believe it offers the U.S. Army the best mix of off-the-shelf operational capability and cost effectiveness for this critical program," said Romualdo M. de Barros, Embraer's executive vice president - Defense Market. "Lockheed Martin is one of the world's leading companies in systems integration expertise, and Embraer will provide a proven, highly capable airframe for a solution that delivers the capability and economics the U.S. Army requires."

Harris GCSD, one of five divisions within Harris Corporation, conducts advanced research studies, develops prototypes, and produces and supports state-of-the-art, assured communications and information systems that solve the mission-critical communications challenges of its military and government customers, while serving as the technology base for the company's diverse commercial businesses. Harris Corporation, which also provides tactical radio, broadcast, microwave, and network support products and systems, provides sales and services to customers in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit http://www.harris.com/.

Embraer (Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica S.A. - NYSE: ERJ; Bovespa: EMBR3 and EMBR4) is a major aerospace company with 33 years of experience in designing, developing, manufacturing, selling and providing after sales support to aircraft for the global airline, defense and corporate markets. With headquarters in Sao Jose dos Campos, state of Sao Paulo, and offices and customer service bases in Australia, China, France, Singapore and the United States, the Company, as of the end of the 1st Quarter 2003, has a total workforce of 12,407 people. Embraer is among Brazil's leading exporting companies. As of June 30, 2003 Embraer's firm order backlog totaled US$ 10.3 billion and the total backlog, including options, equaled US$ 27.1 billion. For more information, visit http://www.embraer.com/.

Management & Data Systems (http://mds.external.lmco.com/), headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has been a leader in systems integration, systems engineering, software development and program management in support of vital national systems for more than 32 years. M&DS is a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation with approximately 8500 employees at facilities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area, Virginia and Maryland.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin (http://www.lockheedmartin.com/) employs about 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2002 sales of $26.6 billion.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin