Army places $90 million Hellfire order

The

awarded a $90 million contract to

for continued production of the combat-proven Hellfire air-to-ground missile.

The latest order includes 900 semi-active laser-guided Hellfire II metal augmented charge (MAC) warhead missiles, 180 high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) missiles, the conversion of 100 HEAT missiles to the MAC warhead configuration, and training missiles along with corresponding training and support packages.

The contract extends production of the Hellfire well into 2007 at Lockheed Martin's manufacturing plants in Ocala, Florida, and Troy, Alabama.

Lockheed says Hellfire II is available in the following configurations: the AGM-114K (HEAT), used against armoured targets; the AGM-114M (blast fragmentation version), effective against ships, caves, light-armoured vehicles, buildings, bunkers, and other urban targets; and the AGM-114N (MAC), used against enclosed structures.

In addition, the AGM-114L, or Longbow Hellfire, uses the HEAT warhead and a millimetre wave seeker for adverse weather and fire-and- forget capability. All four versions have been used in Operation Iraqi Freedom.