Hughes Middle East Operations Awarded $262-Million Contract

Hughes Aircraft Co.’s new Middle East Operations section has been awarded a $262-million contract by the U.S. Air Force to provide support and training for a Hughes-built Saudi Arabian air defense center.

The contract, which will not affect employment at Hughes’ Fullerton facility, is a so-called follow-on to an older contract to design, build and install Saudi Arabia’s air defense system.

A spokeswoman for the Fullerton-based Middle East operations said additional support and training contracts could follow this initial one, which expires in 15 months.

Hughes built the $1-billion air defense system and delivered it to the Saudi Air Force last year. The system includes a central command center, five regional centers and 17 long-range air defense systems. It is one of the largest air defense systems ever built.

Hughes Aircraft is a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp., a GM subsidiary. The Middle East section is part of Virginia-based Hughes Information Systems and is one of four Hughes units still based at the company’s mostly vacant, 39-year-old Fullerton campus. In all, about 2,400 employees remain at the compound, which once housed almost 15,000 workers.