THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 17, 1996 TAG: 9607170396
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 49 lines
Raytheon's Virginia Beach facility has just won a $300 million contract to build SMART-T satellite terminals for the Army. As many as 100 new jobs in Virginia Beach will be created as a result of the five-year contract, the city said Tuesday.
``You're going to see more and more high-tech work done here in close proximity to these military bases,'' said Robert Ruhl, business development manager of the Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development. The SMART-T ranks among the largest defense-related contracts ever awarded to a Virginia Beach company, he noted.
Several Defense Department contractors in the area are benefiting from the consolidation of military units in Hampton Roads, because they have the expertise and capability of serving the growth, Ruhl said.
That is precisely the argument that the Virginia Beach office used to win the SMART-T contract, which belongs to the Army Communications-Electronics Command in Fort Monmouth, N.J.
Because this region's labor pool has so many retiring or exiting military personnel with the electronic and computer skills necessary for the product's manufacture, the Virginia Beach office was awarded the contract.
The SMART-T, short for Secure Mobile Anti-Jam Reliable Tactical Terminal, is a low-cost Extremely High Frequency satellite terminal. It prevents communication between Army units from breaking down in a hostile environment, Raytheon said.
It will be mounted on top of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, nicknamed the Humvee. Available for commercial sale, the wider and more sophisticated Humvee replaced the World War II-era Jeep.
Lexington, Mass.-based Raytheon will manufacture 20 SMART-T units at its Virginia Beach facility beginning in early 1997. The Army could exercise the contract options that allow Raytheon to produce 267 more units over a four-year period.
The Raytheon contract is an example of the high-tech sector of the economy that the city hopes will grow, said Donald Maxwell, director of the beach's economic development department. Raytheon is just the latest of several existing businesses in the resort town that have announced or completed a major expansion. Other companies like Lillian Vernon, Stihl and Bay Mechanical have seen their facilities and operations grow.
Located in the beach's Airport Industrial Park, Raytheon recently leased 56,000 square feet of additional manufacturing space with the option to lease another 36,000 square feet.
Raytheon employs more than 400 people in Hampton Roads, with 250 to 300 working in the Beach office. by CNB