Raytheon Pitches SM-3 to European Countries for Ballistic Missile Defense

Raytheon has proposed that 10 European warships be equipped with the company’s standard SM-3 missile, so that the burden of providing a missile defense shield over Europe can be shared more equally among the NATO countries. The alliance has crafted a Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) to extending the shield, so that it covers the entire European continent. But the U.S. is providing the only system that can currently perform the exo-atmospheric interception of incoming missiles required to defend an entire region. That system is the Aegis onboard U.S. Navy warships, which fires the SM-3 Block 1A.

New Raytheon Datalink Will Allow NATO Ships to Employ All Standard Missiles

LONDON, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Raytheon Company completed design and testing of a prototype dual-band datalink that will enable interoperability between the Standard Missile family of interceptors and a wider variety of radars and ships.

Government Sets Terms for Missile Interceptor Transfer

Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) with Aegis BMD provides global defense against short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles with its demonstrated lethal hit-to-kill capability

Japan would allow the United States to transfer a missile interceptor under joint development by the two nations to third parties, on the condition that the third parties can effectively control its re-export, according to draft guidelines compiled by the government.

Raytheon breaking ground today for missile facility on Redstone Arsenal

On Redstone Arsenal, the plant will be near the offices of the Missile Defense Agency and other customers, and there is already an infrastructure used in integrating large-scale rocket and propulsion systems and the explosive materials they use, he said. The area has a talented workforce and state training programs that will allow employees to come on board ready to work; connections with the University of Alabama in Huntsville and other area institutions for other workforce development and training; and more.

Poland May Join Mobile Anti-Missile System, Finmeccanica Says

Poland may join a multinational mobile anti-missile program that the U.S. plans to withdraw from, said Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, chairman of Finmeccanica SpA (FNC), one of the companies involved in the system’s development.

Raytheon Receives $1.7 Billion to Upgrade Patriot for Saudi Arabia

 

Raytheon Company has received a $1.7 billion Direct Commercial Sales contract to upgrade Saudi Arabia’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense System to the latest Configuration-3. The award includes ground-system hardware, a full training package and support equipment upgrades.

Raytheon to Provide Airborne Processing for Missile Defense Application

PARIS, June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Raytheon Company RTN +0.98% has received a $10 million contract to provide advanced airborne data processing for the Missile Defense Agency.

“Raytheon’s airborne processing technology offers real-time automated detection and tracking, in a flight-worthy package, to the MDA,” said Tim Carey, vice president, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Systems, for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems. “Our onboard processors will use information from Raytheon’s Multi-Spectral Targeting System sensors to detect and track potential missile strikes that could threaten the U.S., its allies and deployed troops.”

Gates, Mullen Defend European Missile Defense

The military’s top leaders defended the U.S. approach to missile defense on Capitol Hill June 15 when questioned about a new report that a key senator says shoots holes in the Obama administration’s European Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) for defending the continent against ballistic missile attacks.

Lockheed’s Anti-Missile System Targeted for Cuts in U.S. Senate

U.S. senators are aiming to eliminate funding for a missile defense program being developed by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) in collaboration with Italy and Germany.Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska, and at least six other Democratic and Republican members of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, will try to strike the Pentagon’s funding request for the Medium Extended Air Defense System, or Meads.

Doubts Persist Over Timeline For Obama Missile Shield Plan

Almost two years after the Obama administration announced its plan to establish over a decade a missile shield that would provide protection to all of Europe, doubts remain over the feasibility of the program’s ambitious timeline, Aviation Week reported on Monday.