Argus Gets Periscope Contract

Argus Gets
Periscope
Contract

Local Firm Given
$943,288 Job
For U. S. Army

Argus Cameras Division has
been awarded a $943,288 U.S.
Army defense contract for
manufacture of 1,650 periscopes
that will be installed on the
;new M-60 battle tank.

Congressman George Meader
of Ann Arbor made the an-
nouncement for the Army to-
day in Washington.

i Clinton H. Harris, president
of Argus, a division of Sylvania
Electric Products, Inc., said
today present plans are to ab-
sorb the defense work within
the present work force of more
than 900 persons.
Facilities Adequate

Present facilities and equip-
ment are adequate to execute
the contract, he added.

The contract also includes
manufacture of 1,380 spare
periscope heads.

Procurement work on the
i contract is to start immediate-
' ly, with periscope manufac-
, turing work to begin Nov. 1.
i The work will cover an 18-
month period, Harris said, and
should have a "steadying ef-
fect" on employment.

The new defense contract is
the first one Argus has been
awarded since 1955 when it
began work on 8,000" fire con-
trol instruments for Army
tanks, anti-aircraft weapons
! and other instruments.
No Cutbacks

Argus, which manufactures a
variety of 35mm still cameras,
'movie ^""""^-n^, projectors and
other ;'nt, ordinarily
, cuts back 115 work force from
about 9QO to 750 during "off-
season" periods.

No layoffs occurred this year,
a spokesman said, adding that
a few persons were hired to
the normally maximum work
force, indicating that new
products and marketing tech-
niques are helping the firm
make greater inroads into the
highly competitive camera
market.