SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY : Rockwell Hopes to Upgrade Avionics in Australian F-111s
Rockwell International’s Defense Electronics division in Anaheim is negotiating with the Royal Australian Air Force for a contract to upgrade that country’s fleet of F-111C fighter aircraft.
John A. McLuckey, president of the Anaheim unit, said Monday that the company hopes to negotiate a contract worth more than $150 million by mid-August.
Under a contract, Rockwell would probably modernize the avionics systems in Australia’s 24 F-111C fighters.
McLuckey said a successful contract negotiation depends on funding approvals for the program by the Australian government.
In 1987, Rockwell won a contract worth up to $1 billion to supply submarine combat systems to the Royal Australian Navy.
If the contract is awarded as expected, McLuckey said, “it would be an important win for us in growing our international presence and building our contract base as an avionics modernization house.”
Some of the work would be done in Anaheim, but McLuckey said employment would probably not increase because other defense programs are winding down. The company has 16,500 employees, 6,500 of them in Anaheim.
About 15% of the Defense Electronics unit’s sales are to other nations, and McLuckey said the company would like to increase that figure.
Along those lines, McLuckey said, the company is looking for other opportunities for upgrading other aircraft avionics systems overseas, since many governments would rather upgrade existing fleets than buy new aircraft.
