Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract valued at $101 million over five years to produce AN/USQ-78B Acoustic Processing and Display Systems for the U.S. Navy's P-3C maritime patrol aircraft. The new systems will significantly enhance the Navy's anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

Lockheed Martin will build 69 AN/USQ-78B acoustic system upgrade kits, 53 AN/USQ-78B acoustic system retrofit kits, seven T-78 acoustic system trainers, and provide sustaining engineering and technical services to address emergent end-of-life issues and technology insertion initiatives. The initial delivery order for fiscal year 2005 is worth $28 million for 18 systems and 36 retrofit kits.

The AN/USQ-78B acoustic processing and display system functions as an integral component of the aircraft's Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) system. The system supports the command and control of the signal processors, drives the displays and controls for two sensor stations and communicates with other acoustic subsystems.

Lockheed Martin's design emphasizes commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software, and an open systems architecture to upgrade P-3C systems capability while driving down total ownership costs.

"We look forward to continuing to help advance the Navy's P-3C maritime patrol aircraft anti-submarine warfare mission," said Chuck Cantello, Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors vice president for Warfare Systems. "Lockheed Martin will deliver state-of-the-art acoustic processing and display systems that will significantly improve the Navy's ability to detect, localize, classify and track submarines."

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin