Charlotte NC: The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command Contracting Center has awarded General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products an order valued at approximately $150 million to produce Hydra-70 rockets, warheads and motors.
Deliveries are expected to begin in September 2010. This order was awarded under a five-year contract originally signed in 2005. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products is a business unit of General Dynamics.
System engineering and program management will be performed at General Dynamics’ Burlington Technology Center in Vermont. Final assembly and component sub-assembly will occur at the company’s Camden, Ark., facility and will be performed by the site’s existing workforce.
Russ Klein, vice president and general manager of weapon systems for General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, said, “Our Hydra-70 rockets provide the U.S. Army with a versatile, effective weapon. Hydra-70 consists of a family of unguided rockets offering several warhead configurations that enable an aircrew to match the rocket to the specific mission.
Rockets can be fired from a variety of rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, including the U.S. Army Apache as well as the U.S. Marine Corps’ Cobra attack helicopters, the U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon and combat aircraft of many nations worldwide.”
“Our Camden-based workforce has produced the Hydra-70 rocket for more than 12 years and is proud of the capability it provides our servicemen and women in theater,” Klein continued.