The U.S. Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a Performance Based Logistics (PBL) follow-on contract to support the Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (TADS/PNVS) and Modernized TADS/PNVS (M-TADS/PNVS) systems on the AH-64 Apache helicopter. The contract has a potential value of $76.6 million for 2008.

The original PBL contract, awarded in early 2007, established a system of continuous improvements supporting the AH-64 Apache TADS/PNVS and M-TADS/PNVS programs. The PBL contract provides complete post-production supply chain management, including spares planning, procurement, repairs,
maintenance, modifications and inventory management of fielded systems. The value of the first year of the contract was $117.8 million.

The PBL program shortens the length of the supply pipeline, enabling the U.S. Army to receive spare parts more quickly. More efficient supply management reduces operation and support cost burdens, providing funds for continuing system modernization and reliability improvements. To date, the
Apache PBL program has been credited with improving fleet readiness, requisition fills, reducing the average flying-hour cost and the U.S. Army’s long term inventory investment.