Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon (RTN) has won a new $406 million contract to supply radar systems to the U.S. Navy, the company announced Monday. The contract, for the supply of AN/SPY-1 radar transmitters and MK99 Fire Control Systems, will extend over a period of some years.
Both pieces of equipment are integral parts of the Navy's Aegis missile defense system. The AN/SPY-1 radar is used by Aegis guided missile cruisers and destroyers to automatically detect incoming threats, search for other threats, and then to track those threats as they move. The MK-99 fire control system controls the operation of the radar, then once a threat has been identified, controls the loading and arming of a missile being selected to launch, launches the missile, and helps guide it to intercept its target.
Both systems are proven performers, having been produced continuously over the past 32 years. They are in use aboard 109 warships around the globe, including 17 ships sailed by foreign nations.
In addition to U.S. Aegis warships, Japanese Kongo-class destroyers, Spanish F-100 Alvaro de Bazan-class frigates, and South Korean KDX-111 King Sejong the Great-class destroyers use the system, and Australia plans to install the AN/SPY-1 radar aboard its new Hobart-class Air Warfare Destroyers as well.
