BAE SYSTEMS AUSTRALIA ACHIEVES MAJOR MILESTONES ON PROJECT WEDGETAIL

BAE Systems Australia, as a subcontractor to The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], has successfully completed three major design reviews for Project Wedgetail - on schedule and within budget.

These reviews follow four reviews held earlier this year for the Wedgetail Electronic Warfare and Ground Support Segments, and demonstrate the continued development of the design baseline for the Australian Industry Component of the state-of-the-art Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) system.

Air Vice Marshal Norm Gray, head of the AEW&C program for the Royal Australian Air Force, said: "Completion of the OMS and MSS Critical Design Reviews on schedule is pleasing as on-time delivery of these Segments is essential for timely realisation of the Australian Defence Force's AEW&C Capability.�

The Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the AEW&C Support Facility*(ASF) was completed in September. "This is the final PDR for Wedgetail System and allows BAE Systems Australia to proceed with the detailed design phase of this critical element for the through life support of the system,� said Steve Wynd, Program Manager Wedgetail - BAE Systems Australia.

Two Critical Design Reviews (CDRs) for the AEW&C Ground Support Segments were completed in November: Operational Mission Simulator* (OMS), and the Mission Support Segment * (MSS).

"The successful completion of these CDRs enables us to proceed with the production programs of these two ground support segments. We have established our integration laboratory at Edinburgh Parks South Australia, and have already delivered Build 4 software to be integrated into Boeing's integration laboratory in Seattle,� said Wynd.

About the sub-systems:
*AEWC Support Facility (ASF)

The ASF provides Australia with the capability to maintain, modify and evolve the AEW&C System. The ASF consist of a Configuration Management and Engineering Development

Environment, to maintain all of the AEW&C data and software libraries, and to generate updates to the AEW&C software. A System Verification and Validation Environment that includes a mock-up of the AEW&C aircraft is to be used to test and validate changes to the AEW&C System.

*Mission Support Segment (MSS)

The MSS gathers the tasking and planning data required for an AEW&C mission. It supports flight and mission planning for all of the aircraft sub-systems, enabling the crew to prepare and carry out the operation. Post-mission functions include mission debriefings, analysis and replay of mission data and production of mission reports. Project Wedgetail will be delivered with two deployable MSSs as well as the fixed facilities at Tindal and Williamtown.

*Operational Mission Simulator (OMS)

The BAE Systems OMS provides realistic training for the AEW&C aircraft mission crew by simulating the mission systems and aircraft environment. The OMS allows instructors to monitor and coach individual students, without compromising the fidelity of the aircraft environment and reducing the airframe hours required for training mission crew. The OMS facilitates training in rarely occurring or potentially dangerous situations, helping the crew to develop and maintain their capabilities so that they are always in a high state of readiness. The OMS provides a significant subset of the mission crew's ground training, and will be complemented with Boeing's mission crew training program.