Hughes Defense Communications receives Spitfire Systemcertification, contract.

FORT WAYNE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 17, 1997--Hughes Defense Communications' AN/PSC-5 Spitfire Terminal has been certified by the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC), and the Hughes Aircraft Co. unit received an order for 1,032 terminals from the U.S. Army's Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) at Fort Monmouth, N.J.

The contract value is $19.3 million, which is a follow-on order to a contract received in January 1994. System deliveries began last month.

Spitfire is a lightweight VHF/UHF Line-Of-Sight and Satellite Communications (SATCOM) Terminal. It has embedded Communication and Transmission Security (COMSEC and TRANSEC) and full DAMA (Demand Assigned Multiple Access) capability at 5 and 25 kHz for multi-service use. Spitfire is designed to be carried by the soldier in the field, eliminating the need to carry many other pieces of equipment, and it is adaptable to other applications, including airborne or vehicle-mounted versions.

The JITC certification for MIL-standards 188-181, 182 and 183 required demonstrating compliance with 1,000 requirements. "By demonstrating compliance with all three military standards, Spitfire has become the first DAMA terminal available on the market," noted Program Director Alan Nusbaum. "All UHF SATCOM TACSAT terminals will require the JITC certification with the three military standards to comply with the Joint Chiefs of Staff mandate. Users with certification will be given DAMA addresses for use on the DAMA network, which allows several hundred users to share one narrowband channel."

Hughes Defense Communications is part of the Sensors & Communications Systems segment of Hughes Aircraft Company, a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp. The earnings of Hughes Electronics are used to calculate the earnings per share attributable to GMH (NYSE symbol) common stock.

CONTACT: Hughes Defense Communications, Fort Wayne

Maribeth Welch, 219/429-4545