Lockheed Martin upgrade Portuguese aircraft

The Portuguese Ministry of Defence has awarded Lockheed Martin a commercial sale contract worth €99.7m to upgrade the mission system avionics on five P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft.

Under the contract, the upgrades for the Portuguese Air Force aircraft include electronic support measures, acoustics, communications, electro-optic and infrared systems, as well as new data management software and hardware, including controls, displays and mission computers.

Systems design, development and integration work will be completed at Lockheed Martin’s Eagan, Minnesota-based Tactical Systems business. Equipment installation will take place at Lockheed Martin’s Aircraft and Logistics Center in Greenville, South Carolina, with the first upgraded aircraft scheduled for delivery in late 2009.

The P-3C is used by navies for roles including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance, and search and rescue.