U.S. Army Awards TRW $57 Million Contract for Latest Battlefield Computers.

Business Editors/Defense Writers

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2000

The official signing of the Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) contract on June 27 at Fort Monmouth, N.J. by the U.S. Army and TRW Inc.(NYSE: TRW) brings the Army one step closer toward digitizing the force and achieving information dominance on the battlefield.

The LRIP contract, which definitizes the letter contract awarded to TRW earlier this year, is valued at more than $57 million for the base year beginning Jan. 25 and includes two option years. This contract authorizes the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) program office to purchase 5,952 Applique+ V4 (Version 4) computer systems from TRW. These systems will be fielded initially to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, over a three-year period.

"By fielding Applique+ V4 hardware with the latest version of the FBCB2 application software, the Army is able to define and refine their tactics, techniques, and procedures while developing digital doctrine," said Paul Dixon, TRW program manager for the LRIP contract. "From the outset of the FBCB2 program, TRW and its teammates on this program have provided six variants of computer systems to meet the Army's requirements from the Task Force XXI Army Warfighting Experiment in 1997, to the Limited User Test in July 1998, leading to the Force Development Test and Evaluation Customer Test that occurred in April," Dixon added.

TRW and teammates Litton Data Systems of San Diego, Calif., and Paravant Inc. of Melbourne, Fla., will provide the latest versions of battlefield hardware and software that display on screen the locations of friendly and enemy forces in near real time. Last year, TRW conducted a hardware competition on behalf of the Army for the next generation of Applique V4 computers, which use commercial components housed in a ruggedized format. Litton Data Systems and Paravant were selected in December as the "best value." Both provide line replaceable units, i.e., processors, displays, and keyboards, that are interchangeable between the two manufacturers.

Qualification and reliability tests of the new V4 units are scheduled to be completed by the end of July. Upcoming milestones for this program include: 1) a government-conducted reliability growth test to be held at the Electronics Proving Grounds in July/August timeframe; 2) use of the new Applique+ V4 systems on Abrams M1A1D tanks and Bradley M2A2 fighting vehicles in the Joint Contingency Force Exercise at Fort Polk, La., in September; and 3) use of the new systems at the FBCB2 Limited User Test 3/Digital Capstone Exercise 1 at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., in April 2001.

TRW Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, provides advanced technology products and services to the automotive, aerospace, and information technology markets worldwide. TRW's 1999 sales were $17 billion. For more information, visit www.trw.com . For past press releases, visit this company's Corporate News on the Net site at http://www.businesswire.com/cnn .