06 Jan 04. The Bush administration on Tuesday selected three companies to design options for protecting U.S. commercial airliners from the threat of shoulder-fired missiles. Homeland Security Department said it was prepared to negotiate preliminary contracts worth $2m each with Northrop Grumman Corp., United Airlines and the U.S. unit of BAE Systems Plc. The companies will be asked to refine complex concepts for adapting technology used by the U.S. military to the commercial fleet and submit cost proposals for development, deployment and maintenance. The agency said it would re-evaluate progress after six months to determine if the government would proceed to a second phase. Even if the Homeland Security Department moves forward, it could be years before commercial planes carry antimissile systems. Senior Homeland Security officials stressed in a conference call the program is an initiative on the possible threat of shoulder-fired missiles to airlines and not specific intelligence against domestic carriers in the United States.

05 Jan 04. After two highly successful developmental flight tests, BAE Systems BROACH program has entered operational testing. The U.S. Navy gave the company approval to proceed following an Operational Test Readiness Review at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland, late last year. Incorporating multi-stage warhead technology, BAE Systems BROACH system consists of a penetrating shaped-charge warhead in front of a standard conventional follow-through bomb. It provides blast/fragmentation effectiveness, as well as hardened target penetration capability. BROACH will be deployed on Navy Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW-C) missiles.

23 Dec 03. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is leading the Warfare Systems Team, which includes Anteon, Gryphon Technologies, JJMA, Titan and ESN. This uniquely qualified, experienced team will provide the U.S. Navy with advanced warfare systems engineering and support to promote the Navy’s vision of deploying credible combat power anywhere in the world. The U.S. Navy procurement for the Aircraft Carrier Warfare Systems Support Contract is a one-year contract with four one-year options. The scope of work on the contract is to provide engineering and technical support for the integration of aircraft carrier warfare systems. Included in the contract is the ability to also perform this work on other platforms, including destroyers, cruisers, and frigates, as required.