U.S. Navy officials select Raytheon for Phalanx "last-chance" weapon system contract
NewsOctober 28, 2015
TUCSON, Ariz. In a U.S. Navy contract valuing at $159.9, Raytheon will manufacture, inspect, and test Phalanx Close-in Weapon Systems (CIWS). The contract provides for a $10 million option in 2015 and another in 2016 for $291 million.
Raytheon engineers will provide support equipment for the CIWS and SeaRAM Weapon Systems, Block 1B radar upgrades and kits for reliability, maintainability, and availability. The contract also covers overhaul of four Land-based Phalanx Weapon Systems.
"Phalanx provides the U.S. Navy's ships with a 'last-chance' defense against anti-ship missiles and littoral warfare threats while SeaRAM extends that inner-layer battlespace," says Rick Nelson, vice president of Raytheon's Naval and Area Mission Defense product line. "Close-in systems give warfighters the ability to automatically carry out functions usually performed by separate systems on other ships."
Company officials say that work will be performed in Louisville, Kentucky and is expected to be completed by August 2018. The CIWS is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled radar, and 20mm gun system that automatically acquires, tracks, and destroys enemy threats that have penetrated all other ship defense systems.
Read more on weapon systems:
U.S. Army procures APKWS laser-guided rockets for AH-64 Apache Helicopters
360-degree turret prototype tested for tactical aircrafts
DARPA's PCAS system prototype demonstration completed
