Loral Acquires Missile Branch of LTV Corp. : Defense: Action sets stage for transfer of jobs from Orange County to Texas or Arkansas. Dallas-based company is to be paid $244 million.

Loral Corp. said Monday it has completed its acquisition of the missile operation of LTV Corp., setting the stage for a possible transfer of jobs from Orange County to Texas or Arkansas.

For its share of a three-partner deal, Loral expects to pay LTV a total of $244 million for the missiles division of Dallas-based LTV, which is reorganizing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Loral’s partners, the Carlyle Group in Washington and Northrop Corp. in Century City, are expected to acquire the aircraft unit of LTV for about $214 million. Carlyle will retain a 51% stake and Northrop will hold a 49% interest. The unit, which had 1991 sales of $994 million, will be renamed Vought Aircraft Co.

Much of LTV’s aircraft and missiles operations were part of Vought Corp., which merged with Ling-Tempco to become Ling-Tempco-Vought in 1961.

Added to the Loral Aeronutronic missile unit in Newport Beach, the LTV business would give Loral about $1.1 billion in annual missile-related revenue, the company said. The unit will be renamed Loral Vought Systems Corp.

Loral Aeronutronic makes Chapparal ground-to-air missiles for the Army and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for the Air Force. LTV’s missile unit makes missiles for the Army, including multiple launch rocket systems and the Standoff surface-to-surface missile, which are used against ground forces.

Elizabeth Allen, a spokeswoman at Loral’s New York headquarters, offered no additional information about the fate of the Loral Aeronutronic plant’s 1,700-member work force.

Two weeks ago, Aeronutronic’s plant manager, James Woolnough, said that most of those jobs would probably stay in Orange County, but that perhaps 150 to 300 missile production workers in Newport Beach might be moved to LTV plants in Camden, Ark., or Grand Prairie, Tex., where 4,000 are already employed.

But Bernard Schwartz, Loral Corp. chairman, contradicted Woolnough in an interview with the Dallas Morning News. He said 300 to 500 jobs might be moved.

Loral said in a statement that the LTV missile unit reported operating income of about $65 million on revenue of about $750 million last year.