Litton Reports It Won U.S. Defense Contract

Litton Industries, a Woodland Hills company that builds ships for the U.S. Navy, said it has won a $27-million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for development work on a new precision guidance system for Navy warplanes and missiles.

The contract was announced after the agency concluded successful field tests of the systems, which are based on Global Positioning System technology, the company said.

The systems, called GPS Guidance Packages, are very small--each unit is a little bigger than a grapefruit--and have been under study by Litton for five years. In addition, Litton was awarded a $15-million contract from the agency to prepare its manufacturing facilities in Salt Lake City for mass production of the systems.

The first eight guidance system units are scheduled to be delivered in 1999, the company said.