Aerospace Firm Puts New Spin on Technology : Defense industry: Pentagon official tours Hughes, gets view of how high-tech commercial gadgets can be created from military advances.
During the Cold War, a Pentagon official may have cared more about tracking missiles than watching baseball games.
But on Friday, Deputy Secretary of Defense William Perry listened intently as Hughes Space and Communications Co. engineers showed off an 18-inch satellite dish that will offer consumers a cheap, convenient way to watch all the ballgames across the country as well as specialized programming and movies.
“It will be a cable system and a video rental store, all rolled into one,” said Eddy Hartenstein, president of DirecTv, the Hughes subsidiary developing the system, which should be on the market next year. Hughes says DirecTv, which promises sharper pictures and sound than conventional TV broadcasts, will be cheaper and less cumbersome than the large satellite dishes available now.
DirecTv’s signal uses digital technology adapted from military use, and it was just what Perry wanted to hear. He is pushing President Clinton’s efforts to assist businesses in converting military technology to commercial use.
Perry’s visit comes as the South Bay struggles with a wealth of job losses in the aerospace sector. Companies have been calling for tax credits or grant programs to assist in adapting to the private market or retraining their employees.
Hughes, which has about 5,500 employees in El Segundo, now depends on military contracts for about half of its $2 billion in revenue. Defense-related projects accounted for 85% of its revenue in 1988.
“I’m enormously impressed here,” Perry said after the tour at Hughes’ El Segundo plant. “It’s easiest to help the companies that can help themselves.”
Among the other technologies Hughes touted in trade-show like displays were battery-recharging stations that will help power GM’s new Impact electric car; a movie-theater-sized video screen; and a night-vision system that helps law enforcement officials catch criminals.
In his proposed economic program, Clinton has proposed spending $1 billion on conversion of defense businesses to commercial use. The conversion funds would go toward development of technology that will serve both the military and private sector. Supporters include Rep. Jane Harman (D-Marina del Rey), who represents the South Bay and accompanied Perry on the tour.
“It’s taking responsibility for the human cost (of defense cutbacks),” said Harman, who was optimistic that the House would fund the conversion program.
Harman is a member of the High Technology Council, an organization of politicians, business leaders and academics that was launched Thursday to study defense conversion in Los Angeles County.
Harman and Perry seemed awe-struck at the high-tech gadgets on display.
Among the projects was Datavision, a special visor mounted in a police car that allows drivers to read information without taking their eyes off the road. The system was adapted from a similar fighter jet system.
The police car also featured a dashboard-mounted night vision system, which helps police officers see suspects’ body heat at night. The product, used by soldiers in Desert Storm, is being tested by a police department in Ottawa, Canada.
Hughes executive Carol Campbell touted the company’s scanning technology research, also used in the Gulf War. Engineers are developing a computer program for the U.S. Postal Service that will read and sort handwritten addresses.
“This is something that people can relate to,” said Campbell, manager of commercial business at Hughes’ Missile Systems Sector in Canoga Park. “It reads mail and puts a bar code on it.”
