P.M. BRIEFING : Rockwell to Build More Missiles

Rockwell International Corp. today said the Army has awarded the company a $97-million contract to produce 3,900 more Hellfire missiles at its missile plant northeast of Atlanta.

Rockwell spokesman Vin Vinci said the contract will ensure that there is enough work for much of the plant’s labor force through late 1992. Rockwell employs 1,300 workers in the area, including 1,100 at the Missile Systems Division and 200 at an engineering facility.

El Segundo-based Rockwell already is the exclusive government contractor for the Hellfire missiles, which are used on the Army’s AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter and the Marines’ AH-1W helicopter. The all-purpose missile can be used air-to-air, air-to-surface or surface-to-surface.

Vinci said that although Hellfire missiles have been used in combat during the Persian Gulf War, the new missile order is not directly related to the war.