In a big day for defense contractors, Raytheon (RTN) landed a pair of defense contracts Monday worth nearly $84 million combined. Specifically, Raytheon was awarded:
- $44.8 million: a partial-foreign military sales contract to supply modern manstation upgrade kits for the Patriot air-defense system to both the U.S. Army and also to the Kuwaiti military.
- $39 million: a delivery order under a previously issued basic ordering agreement to supply 15 AN/APG-79 AESA radar systems to be used aboard Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter-bombers. This contract is to be completed by November 2015.
In use aboard F-18s operated by both the U.S. Navy and also the Royal Australian Air Force, the APG-79 AESA radar gives pilots "reliability, image resolution, and targeting and tracking range significantly greater than that of the previous mechanically scanned array F/A-18 radar," according to Raytheon. Just as important, the company notes that by using solid-state transmit and receive modules, the new radar system "virtually eliminate[s the risk of] mechanical breakdown."
