Charlotte, N.C., General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), was awarded a contract with a potential value of more than $10 million by LiveTV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JetBlue Airways, to develop and produce tri-band radomes to support LiveTV's on-board entertainment and communication systems for commercial airlines.

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has designed and manufactured aircraft radomes for more than 60 years. Radomes are structural, weatherproof enclosures designed to be transparent to micro or radio waves while protecting antenna or electronic surfaces from the elements.

"General Dynamics' tri-band radomes will help increase the performance of LiveTV's entertainment system, giving commercial airline passengers more connectivity than any other communication system currently available," said Jim Losse, vice president and general manager of advanced materials for General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products. "Our radome technology provides LiveTV the performance they need as they continue to expand their media platform."

Development work on the LiveTV radomes will begin immediately. Production work is expected to start in late 2012, and will be conducted at the General Dynamics facility in Marion, Va., which employs more than 450 people. LiveTV is a provider of live in-flight entertainment to commercial airlines such as JetBlue, United, Frontier, Azul, Virgin Australia and Alitalia.

Their "At Home in the Air" entertainment system allows passengers to watch live satellite TV, listen to XM Radio and stay connected at broadband internet speeds just like at home. Additionally, LiveTV's data link system allows the aircraft to utilize local area networks to connect an aircraft's video display, giving pilots the ability to stay aware of all activity on the aircraft behind them.

Source: General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products