LM wins M299 missile launcher deal

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has won a U.S Army order for 430 M299 helicopter-mounted missile launchers.

The company said in a statement Tuesday it had "received a $51.3 million U.S. Army contract to supply an additional 430 M299 helicopter-mounted missile launchers and 376 launcher electronic assemblies for U.S. and international forces. The contract also includes multiple spares, engineering services and depot support."

"The order, from the Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, AL, includes 402 launcher units for the U.S. Armed Services and 28 units for foreign military sales customers. Deliveries are scheduled to run through the 3rd quarter of 2011," the company said.

Lockheed Martin said it "produces the electronics for the M299 launcher at its facility in Ocala, FL. Marvin Engineering in Inglewood, CA, performs final assembly and test. This order will extend M299 production activity in Ocala and in Inglewood until late 2011."

"This order reflects the confidence our Army and international customers place in our M299 launcher," said Ken Musculus, director of the Air-to-Ground Missile Systems program area at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "This all-digital 'smart' launcher can carry and fire any combination of Hellfire II and Longbow Hellfire missiles, giving the Apache and other attack helicopters the ability to engage a wide range of targets in a single sortie."

"The precision-strike Hellfire II family includes four warhead variations, each with a semi-active laser seeker to home in on the target: First, the high-explosive anti-tank -- HEAT -- missile, which defeats all known and projected armored threats; Second, the augmented HEAT, which adds blast fragmentation to the HEAT warhead's anti-tank capability for precision strike against soft targets in the open; Third, the blast fragmentation (blast frag) missile, which defeats "soft" targets such as boats, buildings, bunkers and light-armored vehicles; and fourth, the metal augmented charge missile, which defeats enclosures, caves and enemy personnel housed therein, with minimal collateral damage," the company said.

"The M299 launcher weighs 145 pounds and supports four Hellfire II or Longbow Hellfire missiles. ... The M299 is integrated on the AH-64D Apache Longbow, AH-1Z Cobra, Eurocopter Tiger, SH-60-B Seahawk and UK AH MK1 Apache helicopters