MEADS International (MI) will host a media opportunity at 3 p.m. EDT (15.00) on Tuesday, June 14, at the Paris Air Show, in Paris, France.

Jim Cravens, president of MEADS International, along with Marwan Lahoud, Chief Executive Officer of MBDA; Werner Kaltenegger, Chief Executive Officer of EADS/LFK; and Fabrizio Giulianini, managing director of MBDA Italia, will be available for photos and to answer questions on Medium Extended Air Defense Systems (MEADS), the tri-national, 21st century air and missile defense program. MEADS International formally signed a definitized contract to design and develop the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) on June 1. The contract value is approximately $2 billion plus euro 1.4 billion for the program's design and development (D&D) phase.

The media event will take place at the Paris Air Show in the MBDA stand (n E18 -- Hall 2A) on the Mezzanine level. RSVPs are appreciated. Contact Carol Reed at +44 (0) 7764 323 453. Champagne will be served.

Through technological contributions of Lockheed Martin, EADS/LFK and MBDA Italia, MEADS International is developing an advanced ground-mobile system that meets challenging multi-national air and missile defense requirements for Germany, Italy and the United States.

MEADS, under development by Germany, Italy and the United States, includes a lightweight launcher, 360-degree fire control and surveillance radars and plug-and-fight battle management command and control abilities not found in current systems. With its enhanced mobility and advanced technologies, MEADS will offer warfighters significant improvements over existing systems.

MEADS is a mobile air defense system designed to replace Patriot systems in Germany and the United States, and Nike Hercules systems in Italy. It also meets the requirements of a "capabilities oriented" air defense concept in Germany and the United States. MEADS incorporates the proven hit-to-kill PAC- 3 Missile in a system that includes surveillance and fire control sensors, battle management/communication centers and highly mobile lightweight launchers. The system will combine superior battlefield protection with unprecedented flexibility, allowing it to protect maneuver forces and to provide homeland defense in selected areas against tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft.

MEADS will provide capabilities unlike any other fielded or planned air and missile defense system. It is easily deployed to a theater of operations and, once there, can keep pace with fast-moving maneuver forces. When completed, MEADS will be an air defense system able to roll off tactical transports with the troops and immediately begin operations. More importantly, its open architecture provides for 21st century air defense system-of-system integration capabilities that allow mission-tailoring for homeland defense or defense of maneuver forces. MEADS also provides greater firepower with less manpower than current systems, producing dramatic operation and support cost savings.

In 1999, MEADS International, Inc., was selected by NAMEADSMA, a chartered organization of NATO, to develop MEADS. A multinational joint venture headquartered in Orlando, FL, MEADS International's participating companies are MBDA Italia, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and Lenkflugkorpersysteme (LFK) in Germany, and Lockheed Martin in the United States. Together, these companies have focused an international engineering team in Orlando to develop systems and technologies for the MEADS program, which continues as a model for collaborative transatlantic development.

SOURCE: Meads International