Hughes Wins Part of Navy Computer Pact : Defense: Data Systems unit in Anaheim Hills will team with Hewlett-Packard and military software maker BTG Inc. in potential $175-million deal.
Hughes Aircraft Co. and Hewlett-Packard Co. said Wednesday that they have won a contract to supply computer workstations to the Navy in a deal worth a potential $175 million.
Hughes Data Systems here, a subsidiary of the aerospace giant’s Ground Systems Group in Fullerton, is contracted to provide up to 4,300 Hewlett-Packard computers over four years.
The workstations will be used by the Navy aboard combat ships, submarines, laboratories at naval bases and for electronic intelligence, the company said.
The contract represents the first major win for a strategic alliance established by Hughes and Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard two years ago in the aerospace company’s strategy to push into commercial markets in an era of defense cuts.
Despite the emphasis on commercial work, several of the biggest contracts in the past year for Ground Systems, including the award Wednesday, have come from the defense side of the business. Defense revenues accounted for 70% of the parent company’s $7.7 billion.
The group has won an $837-million contract to build an air defense system for Saudi Arabia and a contract worth a potential $452 million to build a mobile air defense radar for the Army.
Richard Dore, a Hughes spokesman, said he does not know whether the award will preserve jobs within Ground Systems, which last week announced layoffs of about 100 of its 7,538 employees. The group’s work force has declined from a peak of 15,000 in 1985.
Hughes’ partners on the program include Hewlett-Packard, which would build the computers, and military software maker BTG Inc. in Vienna, Va., which would program the computers for battle use. The Hughes unit would adapt the computers for use in rugged environments.
Edward Bersoff, president of BTG, said details of the joint venture and how much of the contract will go to each player have not yet been determined.
