Lockheed Martin is competing with Raytheon and a BAE Systems/General Dynamics team to provide a new 2.75-inch guided rocket that will enable U.S. Army Apache and U.S. Marine Corps Cobra attack helicopters and other platforms to precisely engage non-armored targets with minimal collateral damage. The government is expected to announce the winner of the competition in mid- to late April.

"We progressed through a complete subassembly and assembly development to a successful guided flight in a 9-month contractor-funded pre-award development program," said Steve Barnoske, director � Tactical Missiles for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Because of this disciplined development, we believe we are offering the most mature, lowest-risk solution for APKWS II.

"The maturity of our design, confirmed by this extensive pre-contract risk reduction testing program and, especially, by the close correlation of our simulations and actual flight test data from successful ballistic flights and a successful guided flight, enables us to get this much-needed new capability to the field fast."

Lockheed Martin previously announced a successful guided test flight (GTV-1) on February 28, 2006, at Eglin Air Force Base, FL. During a March 14 news media briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, the company showed videographic imagery of the flight, including a target hit less than a half meter from the laser designation spot, 2.8 kilometers downrange from the launcher.

"Our familiarity with all the required APKWS II platforms, including the fire control systems, the launchers and the HELLFIRE missile, reduces platform integration risk," Barnoske continued. "And our ready production lines mean we can deliver an affordable product -- with Lockheed Martin's historical cost credibility."

"Our nose-mounted seeker design avoids performance limitations associated with a canard-mounted seeker," he added, "and our use of an existing, off-the-shelf, unmodified Hydra-70 rocket as specified in the Request for Proposal ensures rapid fielding with minimal risk."

Lockheed Martin previously announced two successful APKWS II ballistic test vehicle (BTV) flights (December 2005) that preceded the guided flight, as well as wind tunnel tests, hardware-in-the-loop testing, seeker tests, warhead fuze tests and component-level testing that dates back to mid-2005.

"We have achieved remarkable success on our development," Barnoske said. "In fact, we will be conducting an all-up internal Preliminary Design Review March 28-29. The maturity and proven performance of our hardware and software place us in a strong position to pass Critical Design Review early in the System Design and Development (SDD) program. That, in turn, will get the product to the field as soon as possible."

The APKWS II is a 2.75-inch laser-guided rocket that will provide crews of the Apache, Cobra, and other platforms with precision-strike capability against targets that do not require a 7-inch HELLFIRE missile -- an option not presently available. This low-cost alternative will destroy non-armored targets that are close to civilian assets and/or friendly forces.

Lockheed Martin plans to produce the APKWS II seeker at its plant in Ocala, FL, with final rocket assembly at its facility in Troy, AL. The control actuation system will be produced at HR Textron's plant in Santa Clarita, CA; the inertial sensor assembly, at Honeywell's facility in Minneapolis, MN.

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