Rockwell wins $13 million contract for downed pilot radio communication and location system; production options could increase total value to $67 million.

ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 1996--Rockwell has won a $13 million contract to provide a secure, worldwide communication and location system that would be used for search and rescue of downed pilots in a combat environment.

The Combat Survivor Evader Locator, or CSEL, is a lightweight, low-power, over-the-horizon radio using an integrated Global Positioning System, (GPS) receiver.

The initial 18-month contract, which was awarded by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Center (AF SMC), Los Angeles, is to perform engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) and to deliver 35 production configuration units for operational test and evaluation. In addition to the EMD contract, three production lots totaling 11,000 handheld units are priced options that the Air Force may exercise during the course of the CSEL program. If exercised, the contract value would increase to $67.2 million.

"We are proud to offer a rugged, handheld secure survival communication and location system that could help save the lives of our service men and women," said Robert D. Paster, president of Rockwell's Autonetics and Missile Systems Division (A&MSD), Anaheim, Calif. A&MSD's Advanced Technology Programs business segment is developing the system and leading the Rockwell CSEL team.

Art Cohen, vice president of A&MSD's Advanced Technology Programs, described the capabilities of the CSEL radio. "This radio is capable of reliable GPS geolocation, over-the-horizon satellite data communication with Joint Service Rescue Centers, and line-of-sight voice communication with rescue teams. The CSEL program also is the first product insertion of an improved GPS encryption feature that adds improved GPS security in battlefield environments," said Cohen.

Other Rockwell divisions on the CSEL team are Collins Avionics & Communications Division, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the Communication Systems Division, with headquarters in Dallas.

Collins Avionics & Communications Division will perform the high-rate low-cost production of the handheld CSEL units at its Coralville, Iowa, plant (about 20 miles south of Cedar Rapids). Communication Systems Division will provide C4I message switching software expertise.

Another team member is RACAL Communications Inc. of Rockville, Md., which is developing and producing the combined Satcom/line-of-sight voice radio module. Rockwell's Collins Avionics & Communications Division and Allen Osborne Associates of Westlake Village, Calif., have parallel efforts in the development of an improved encrypted GPS module for the CSEL Program.

Mobile DataCom of Clarksburg, Md., is providing architectural studies to utilize commercial Satcom services for future potential CSEL applications.

Autonetics and Missile Systems Division, a Rockwell defense electronics business, is a recognized leader in its addressed markets of precision and low-cost guidance, navigation and control (GN&C), marine system products, tactical weapons systems, as well as sensors and acquisition systems for the global defense and commercial markets.

Rockwell is a diversified, high-technology company holding leadership market positions in automation, avionics, semiconductor systems, aerospace, defense electronics, and automotive component systems with annual worldwide sales of $13 billion.

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