Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Raytheon targets General Dynamics for $22M Phalanx subcontract

By Mass High Tech Staff

General Dynamics Corp. reports its armament and technical products division has landed a $22 million contract from Raytheon Co.’s missile systems unit.

Under the deal General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) will produce gun systems for Raytheon’s (NYSE: RTN) Phalanx Block 1B Close-In Weapon System and the Centurion Land-Based Phalanx Weapon System.

General Dynamics will produce the gun systems at its facility in Saco, Maine, and manage the program out of its Burlington, Vt., site. The company plans to test the gun at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho, Vt.

The Phalanx Block 1B Gun System is a fully autonomous, radar directed, rapid-fire 20 mm Gatling gun system intended for use on naval ships. The gun is designed for use against threats including anti-ship missiles, aircraft and high-speed watercraft as well as other threats. 

In the Centurion configuration, a Phalanx system is mounted on a wheeled platform to protect ground forces and high-value sites against rocket, artillery and mortar threats.

In May, General Dynamics won a $7.8 million extension to a previously won U.S. Navy contract to produce weapons systems for fighter jets. The deal, a $10 million follow-on to a contract awarded in July 2005, called for the defense contractor to produce 20mm, automatic Gatling gun systems for use on F/A-18 jets at its Saco facility.

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, based in Charlotte, N.C., is a business unit of Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics. General Dynamics, which employs about 84,000 people, reported a 2007 net income of $2.1 billion on revenue of $27.2 billion.