Lockheed Martin beat Boeing to win a €485 million (US$766.2 million) Pentagon contract to design and build a radio system connecting aircraft, ships and ground stations militarywide, an Associated Press report said.
The deal could lead to the installation of tens of thousands of radios and ultimately be worth billions to the company, the report said. The award is a key piece of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), a major Defense Department program to replace much of the military's existing radio equipment with radios that will let Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine troops communicate.
The new system will be able to transmit video and other data and as well as conversations, replacing a variety of older systems, the report said.
The contract loss is the second blow the Pentagon has dealt to Boeing in less than a month.