Lockheed beats Boeing to win US military radio deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) beat out Boeing Co (BA.N) to win a $766 million contract to develop a next-generation radio system for aircraft, ships and ground stations, the Pentagon announced on Friday.

Pentagon acquisition chief John Young approved the start of development of the next phase of the Joint Tactical Radio System program earlier this week, paving the way for Friday's contract announcement.

A later production contract could translate into business deals for the winning bidder valued at $10 billion or more over the long term, defense analysts have said.

Under the contract, Lockheed will design a modular radio system that can operate on several different waveforms currently in use by the armed forces, but which is also adaptable to future waveforms and vehicles.

The company will build 42 engineering development models of the small airborne configured system, as well as initial development models for use on Navy destroyers.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa)