Costa Mesa company lands missile contract

Paul Clinton

Continuing a strong run of military contracts, Ceradyne Inc. has

announced it has secured a contract to provide ceramic nose cones for

an advanced version of the Patriot Missile System.

Ceradyne, which is based in Costa Mesa, was awarded the contract

by Lockheed Martin Corp., which assembles the Patriot Advanced

Capability, or PAC-3, missile system.

The missiles were used in March in Iraq. They are designed with

so-called “hit to kill” technology that enables them to intercept

incoming missiles.

In announcing the contract Monday, company officials said the deal

could bring as much as $150 million in revenue to Ceradyne during a

more than 10-year period. Lockheed said it would hand the company $7

million up front.

“This is a major win for Ceradyne,” said Earl Conabee, Ceradyne’s

vice president responsible for the project. “We are particularly

pleased with Lockheed’s decision to award Ceradyne the front-end

funding.”

Since December, the company has secured a string of deals with the

U.S. military to provide high-tech ceramic body armor for soldiers on

the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and other war-torn countries.

Ceradyne develops state-of-the-art ceramics that are harder than

any substance, except diamonds. The ceramics have been used in

missiles, engine parts, orthodontic braces and other products.

Ceradyne will begin work on the missile nose cones, or radomes, in

2004 for between $4 million and $6 million per year.

The nose cones will be constructed at Ceradyne’s 25,000

square-foot plant in Scottsdale, Georgia.

The Costa Mesa-based company has secured $26.5 million in such

contracts over the past five months to provide its ceramic armor for

soldiers now fighting in Iraq.