Defense Industry Ventura County

Facing continuing cutbacks in military spending, Ventura County officials are seeking to develop a strategy to help local defense industries diversify to better adapt to the commercial marketplace. The Board of Supervisors today will consider approving a $118,000 contract with a San Francisco-based consulting firm to develop a long-range plan to assist aerospace, electronic and other high-tech industries that depend on defense contracts.

ITT Gilfillan has been awarded a $7-million research and development contract by the U.S. Navy to upgrade radar systems on its aircraft carriers and other warships. ITT Gilfillan, based in Van Nuys, is a maker of air traffic control systems and radar defense systems used by the U.S. military. It has been a maker of radar systems for half a century.

The Oxnard unit of Vitro Corp. has received a $24.6-million contract to continue weapons systems work for the Port Hueneme Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, formerly known as NEMESIS. The five-year, follow-on order calls for Vitro to provide engineering services for such Navy weapons systems as the Tomahawk, Terrier, Tartar and Harpoon missiles. A Vitro spokeswoman said she did not expect the award to lead to new hiring. Vitro, a subsidiary of Penn Central Corp.

Facing continuing cutbacks in military spending, Ventura County officials are seeking to develop a strategy to help local defense industries diversify to better adapt to the commercial marketplace. The Board of Supervisors today will consider approving a $118,000 contract with a San Francisco-based consulting firm to develop a long-range plan to assist aerospace, electronic and other high-tech industries that depend on defense contracts.

Several years ago, executives at California Amplifier Inc., a Camarillo firm that makes components for satellite dishes, foresaw an economic shakedown as the United States began cutting back on military spending in the face of a diminished Soviet threat. Until 1990, the firm had split its operations between defense work--supplying amplifier products for such things as radar detection systems--and commercial manufacturing of amplifiers for home satellite television dishes.

Up to 20 employees could be laid off from an Oxnard manufacturing firm that builds parts for nuclear weapons because of cuts in military spending, federal energy officials said Tuesday. But the eventual number of layoffs from the EG & G Rocky Flats' Oxnard facility could be smaller if federal money is available to implement early retirement and voluntary-layoff programs, said Pam Ford, the company's human resources administrator.

ITT Gilfillan has been awarded a $7-million research and development contract by the U.S. Navy to upgrade radar systems on its aircraft carriers and other warships. ITT Gilfillan, based in Van Nuys, is a maker of air traffic control systems and radar defense systems used by the U.S. military. It has been a maker of radar systems for half a century.

Up to 20 employees could be laid off from an Oxnard manufacturing firm that builds parts for nuclear weapons because of cuts in military spending, federal energy officials said Tuesday. But the eventual number of layoffs from the EG & G Rocky Flats' Oxnard facility could be smaller if federal money is available to implement early retirement and voluntary-layoff programs, said Pam Ford, the company's human resources administrator.

Several years ago, executives at California Amplifier Inc., a Camarillo firm that makes components for satellite dishes, foresaw an economic shakedown as the United States began cutting back on military spending in the face of a diminished Soviet threat. Until 1990, the firm had split its operations between defense work--supplying amplifier products for such things as radar detection systems--and commercial manufacturing of amplifiers for home satellite television dishes.

The Oxnard unit of Vitro Corp. has received a $24.6-million contract to continue weapons systems work for the Port Hueneme Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, formerly known as NEMESIS. The five-year, follow-on order calls for Vitro to provide engineering services for such Navy weapons systems as the Tomahawk, Terrier, Tartar and Harpoon missiles. A Vitro spokeswoman said she did not expect the award to lead to new hiring. Vitro, a subsidiary of Penn Central Corp.