Boeing Co invingind Lockheed Martin , a  reusit   să-şi păstreze poziţia sa ca prim contractor pentru scutul antirachetă american cu bataie lunga,  a declarat  Pentagonul , vineri.

   Departamentul american al Apararii a declarat ca lui  Boeing   i   s-a  atribuit    un   contract de 3.48 miliarde dolari, de şapte ani pentru a dezvolta, testa, cerceta şi fabrica sistemele  de apărare anti-rachetă.

  O echipa condusa de Lockheed Martin Corp şi Raytheon Co  s-au întrecut cu Boeing pentru a extinde şi de a menţine    proiectul  Apărării de sol Midcourse, sau GMD, hub-ul de protecţie antiracheta stratificat.

   .Boeing partnered with Northrop Grumman Corp to retain the work."We believe the government conducted a fair and open competition, making the right decision for the future of the program," Norm Tew, Boeing vice president and program director of GMD, said in a statement.Lockheed said it was "honored" to have participated on the bid, a company spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.

  The GMD contract's value to Boeing will have been about $18 billion from January 2001, when it formally became the system's prime contractor, through the end of this year, Boeing has said.GMD uses radar and other sensors plus a 20,000-mile fiber optic communications network to cue interceptors in silos at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.The shield has been shaped initially to guard against ballistic missiles that could be fired by Iran and North Korea.

    It is the only U.S. defense against long-range missiles that could be tipped with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads.

** sursa  : Reuters