McDonnell’s SDI contract is worth $331 million.

McDonnell Douglas Astronautics said its recently awarded contract to develop a missile prototype for the Strategic Defense Initiative system will total $331 million over five years. The contract, one of the largest for the Huntington Beach plant within the last few years, will enable the firm to employ up to 200 engineers by the end of 1986, the company said. The “Star Wars” contract calls for McDonnell Douglas to design and test a ground-launched missile that will seek out and destroy incoming enemy warheads.