BAE SYSTEMS AWARDED QF-4 FULL-SCALE AERIAL TARGET CONTRACT

BAE Systems has been awarded a $21 million U.S. Air Force contract to
provide 17 QF-4 Full-Scale Aerial Targets (FSATs) and associated
technical support. This award exercises the first of five annual options
of a production contract for Lot 11. If all options are awarded, the
total contract value of lots 10-15 could be $225 million.

BAE Systems Flight Systems operations, located in Mojave, California,
will perform the work. The production effort will be completed by August
2007 with a follow-on four-year warranty period.

"BAE Systems welcomes this opportunity to continue to provide realistic
targets to our valued customer. Our targets' contribution to weapons
development and training directly affects the ability of our war
fighters to prevail," said Paul Nafziger, BAE Systems vice president and
general manager at Mojave.

BAE Systems is a world leader in converting retired fighter aircraft for
use as unmanned targets. The company modified the QF-4 to be flown from
U.S. Department of Defense test ranges for use in both the development
of new weapons systems and to ensure those systems already deployed
remain capable of neutralising enemy aircraft. To date, BAE Systems has
converted 170 F-4s into full-scale aerial targets.

The Headquarters of Air Armament Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida,
is the contracting office.


About BAE SYSTEMS:

BAE Systems is an international company engaged in the development,
delivery and support of advanced defence and aerospace systems in the
air, on land, at sea and in space. The company designs, manufactures and
supports military aircraft, surface ships, submarines, fighting
vehicles, radar, avionics, communications, electronics and guided weapon
systems. It is a pioneer in technology with a heritage stretching back
hundreds of years. It is at the forefront of innovation, working to
develop the next generation of intelligent defence systems.

BAE Systems has major operations across five continents and customers in
some 130 countries. The company has more than 90,000 people and
generates annual sales of approximately £12 billion through its
wholly-owned and joint venture operations.

The only dignified way for a Phantom to die - fighting!

I saw a picture the other day - maybe it was here - of a pair of QF-4Es (maybe Fs) painted in SE Asia camoflage. Man, I built a metric shitload of those 1/48 scale Monogram F-4C/Ds in that scheme!