Harris Corp has beaten AT&T Co to the $1,660m US Federal Aviation Administration contract to implement the computer-controlled Voice Switching & Control System, which will provide secure telephone links between air traffic controllers and radio links to flight crews. The contract initially covers 25 systems over four years – only $97m of the total will be spent this year – with an option on 24 more. Key beneficiaries are Tandem Computers Inc whose NonStop CLX machines will be the basis of the computer control subsystem, Philips Electronics NV’s Magnavox, which will supply colour touch screen displays, and Harris’s own telecommunications arm which will supply the iAPX-86-based 20-20 digital PABXs. Systems will go in at the Administration’s Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, at the New York terminal approach facility, and at 22 en route Air Route Traffic Control Centers. The award includes maintenance, training and installation over 14 years, and the Melbourne, Florida company says the contract will have a very positive impact on profits from its fiscal 1993, which begins July, on.
