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Southland Defense Industry Quietly Heeds War's Drumbeat
Friday, September 27, 2002
By Peter Pae
Times Staff Writer

"I get the general impression that things are going to start moving rather quickly after the November elections and everybody wants to have their ducks lined up if the president decided to move sooner than later," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defense research firm. "Things might happen rather quickly after the election, and anybody that says nothing will happen until February will be surprised."

Southern California's defense industry -- the nerve center for advanced weapons and surveillance technology for the U.S. military -- is quietly gearing up for a potential attack against Iraq.

At Pentagon contractors throughout the region, engineers have been ordered to put vacations on hold. Some have been told to plan for longer spells at the office. And companies that make sophisticated intelligence-gathering equipment have been directed by the government to field new technologies ahead of schedule.

TRW Inc. engineers in Carson, for instance, were told last week to immediately begin supplying a new battlefield computer system to troops in the Persian Gulf region, although the equipment is still in the testing phase. The computers, similar to civilian laptop devices, are designed to give Army units down to squad level instant access to battlefield information, including the positions of enemy targets and the locations of other U.S. troops.

Citing the need for discretion, industry executives are declining to comment publicly on the surge of activity. But based on interviews with engineers who requested anonymity, the busiest companies appear to be those that specialize in technologies for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance work, as well as those working to improve the accuracy of missiles and bombs.
(More: Sun-Sentinel.com News Source)
2002 © The Los Angeles Times.

Dan