Hughes Gets $31.3-Million Navy Pact for Sonar System

Hughes Aircraft Co. said it received a $31.3-million Navy contract to develop an advanced helicopter-borne sonar system for improved anti-submarine warfare.

The five-year contract, awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command to Hughes’ Ground Systems Group in Fullerton, provides for full-scale development of the Airborne Low Frequency Sonar system, with an option to produce up to 50 such systems.

The potential for U.S. and international orders could reach more than 450 units, with development and production valued at up to $1 billion, the company said.

Thomson Sintra ASM, a unit of Paris-based Thomson-CSF, will work with Hughes on the program.