Rockwell Gets $21.9-Million Contract for Military Receivers

Rockwell International Corp. said Wednesday that it has won a $21.9-million military contract to make hand-held navigation devices known as pluggers.

The Air Force awarded the contract to buy 13,999 of the Precision Lightweight GPS Receivers (PLGR). The receivers weigh three pounds each and can pinpoint a soldier’s location anywhere on Earth, using signals from Air Force navigation satellites.

The pluggers were used extensively in the Persian Gulf War, where the flat desert terrain made determining location difficult. Rockwell’s Collins Avionics and Communications Division will make the pluggers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The deal includes four options that, if fully exercised, would result in purchases of as many as 93,999 receivers. That could add another $100 million in contracts to the deal.