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Netherlands' Apache helicopters to receive upgrades

By James LaPorta
An AH-64 Apache Helicopter with 4th Heavy Attack Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, conducts live fire gunnery at Fort Hunter-Liggett, Calif., Mar. 3, 2018. Photo by Sgt. Maricris C. McLane/U.S. Army
An AH-64 Apache Helicopter with 4th Heavy Attack Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, conducts live fire gunnery at Fort Hunter-Liggett, Calif., Mar. 3, 2018. Photo by Sgt. Maricris C. McLane/U.S. Army

April 6 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Army for laser range finder designators for Netherlands-owned AH-64 Apache helicopters.

The deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $116.8 million, which is a modification to a previous foreign military sales award contract.

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The agreement enables Lockheed Martin to provide the company-manufactured Modernized Day Sensor Assembly Laser Range Finder Designator to the Army for integration on AH-64 Apache attack helicopters for the kingdom of the Netherlands.

The advanced laser range finder technology provide Apache pilots with improved situational awareness and improved communications with ground forces, while also giving pilots color for their Apache cockpit displays, said Lockheed Martin, who delivered its first laser range finder in 2013.

Work on the contract will occur in Orlando, Fla., and is expected to be complete in August 2020.

The total amount of the contract will be obligated to Lockheed Martin at time of award from Army fiscal 2018 foreign military sales and aircraft procurement funds, the Pentagon said.

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