Lockheed likely to win GPS satellite contract: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is likely to win a contract over Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to build next generation navigation satellites for the U.S. military, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the contract.

The Air Force is expected to award the contract, worth at least $1.8 billion, to Lockheed as early as Tuesday if there are no last minute delays or reversals, the report said, citing those people.

The contract in question is for the first eight "Block A" GPS III satellites to provide increased accuracy to users worldwide.

Global Positioning Satellites (GPS), in one of six Earth orbits, circle the globe every 12 hours beaming navigation and precision timing signals used for everything from mapping to business transaction authentication to modern warfare.

GPS III's first increment is to feature up to 10 times greater signal power than previous configurations, boosting resistance to jamming, perceived as a growing threat.

Lockheed and Boeing were both not available immediately for comment.

The U.S. Air Force could not be reached immediately for comment.

(Reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman; editing by Sue Thomas)