Lockheed Martin said on Tuesday it won a contract worth up to seven billion dollars over 20 years to develop the next-generation spy plane for the United States army.
The defence and aerospace giant said the contract awarded on Tuesday is for $879-million to design and develop the aerial common sensor, an airborne intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and target-identification system.
The system would enable battlefield commanders to see a real-time representation of areas under surveillance.
The new aircraft will replace the army’s Guardrail Common Sensor, the airborne reconnaissance low aircraft and the navy’s fleet of E-P3 aircraft, Lockheed said in a statement.
Lockheed Martin said it will ”combine and enhance the capabilities of the current systems on these platforms” into a single mission package on an Embraer ERJ-145 platform.
It said the contract has a potential value of about seven billion dollars over the life of the expected 20-year programme.
”We are extremely proud to partner with the US government in the development of ACS,” said Stan Sloane, Lockheed Martin’s executive vice-president.
”With ACS, warfighters can see and act first with greater speed and accuracy. Our team will deliver a highly sophisticated system that will help enable net-centric operations and provide a tactical overwatch for the future force.” – Sapa-AFP