Boeing

The Boeing Company has received an $8 million contract from the U.S. Navy for the Low Cost Missile System (LCMS) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) program, called Fasthawk. The 36-month program will demonstrate technologies applicable to a next-generation, ship-launched, land attack missile system.

The LCMS concept comprises a fin-less, bending body airframe, fixed geometry annular inlet, and a slip-out booster/ramjet engine. The LCMS ATD program will be conducted jointly with the Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, Calif., and will demonstrate through a series of ground and flight tests the technologies required to deliver a 700-pound payload to a range exceeding 700 nautical miles at a speed of Mach 4.0.

"We are pleased to be teamed with the Navy in developing this new generation missile capability," said Robert D. Paster, president of Autonetics and Missile Systems Division, a part of Boeing North American, Inc. "This program will demonstrate a major leap forward in tactical missile technology."

The LCMS was selected by the Navy's Science and Technology Working Group as the top-rated Navy Advanced Technology Demonstration Program for fiscal year 97. Autonetics and Missile Systems Division is partnered with the Naval Air Warfare Center, Airframe, Ordnance, and Propulsion Systems Division for the program. Joint risk-reduction activities were conducted earlier this year in the areas of propulsion, thrust vector control, and guidance and control.

Boeing North American, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company. Boeing North American, Inc. participates in the following market segments: space systems; power and propulsion; satellites; missile defense systems; aircraft and aerostructures; aircraft modification; guidance and navigation; command, control and communications; ship systems; tactical missiles; and radar and electro-optical sensors. The subsidiary has its headquarters in Seal Beach, Calif.