Air Force Extends Hughes Contract

FULLERTON — Hughes Aircraft Co.’s Middle East Operations unit said Thursday it has received a seven-month, $120-million extension of its U.S. Air Force contract for maintenance and operations of the Royal Saudi Air Force’s command and control system.

Hughes’ Fullerton-based Middle East unit has been prime contractor for the U.S.-supplied Peace Shield System in Saudi Arabia since its inception in 1991.

The contract extension is not expected to create more jobs at the Hughes facility in Fullerton, where about 2,500 administrators, engineers and technicians are employed in several operating units, including 90 in the Peace Shield program.