More Lockheed Martin Target Sighting Systems.

Via Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed Martin Receives $44 Million Marine Corps Targeting System Production Contract

ORLANDO, FL, June 21st, 2010 -- The Naval Surface Warfare Center has awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a $44 million follow-on production contract for the Target Sight System (TSS), the fire control system for the U.S. Marine Corps’ AH-1Z Cobra. The agreement authorizes production of 18 additional units.
“I am confident that TSS is exactly the system our Cobra pilots need to put warheads on target,” said Col. Harry Hewson, U.S. Marine Corps Program Manager - Air 276. “TSS provides the eyes and the combat power Marine pilots need to support other Marines on the battlefield.”
The TSS integrates state-of-the-art sensors, providing Cobra pilots with enhanced capabilities to acquire, track and designate targets. The system provides superior imagery through a highly-stabilized sensor suite specifically tailored to the AH-1Z platform. The suite includes a laser designator, color TV and a third-generation, mid-wave, forward-looking infrared sensor with advanced image processing.
“TSS leverages Lockheed Martin’s decades of sensor design and systems integration experience,” said Joseph Butera, senior program manager of Turreted Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “The system allows pilots to see farther, providing a tactical advantage for today’s and tomorrow’s battlefields.”
Lockheed Martin received the initial TSS production contract for 16 units in March 2008 and delivered the first unit in June 2009. The system is produced at facilities in Ocala and Orlando, FL. Delivery of all systems contracted under Lot 6 and 7 low-rate initial production will be completed in 2011. A contract for full-rate production of 226 total units is expected this fall.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 136,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2009 sales of $45.2 billion

This is interesting on a couple of levels.  First why is it being sourced out of the Naval Surface Warfare Center instead of NAVAIR?  Second, this is good news.  The AH-1Z program seems to be hitting its stride.  Plus the Lockheed Martin TSS seems to have become the system of choice not only for helicopters but also UAVs.