Raytheon Awarded $241 Million Contract for SM-3 Block IIA

The Missile Defense Agency awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) a $241 million contract modification for continued engineering design and development work on the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA.

The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Tech Column

Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems has enjoyed a virtual monopoly on a critical, and growing, element of the nation’s emerging missile defense system for years with its Standard Missile-3 interceptors.

Russian Cooperation with the United States on Missile Defense

Dear Members and Friends, 

Enclosed is a brief summary/white paper for your review and understanding.  The paper, which identifies U.S. and Russian positions on missile defense cooperation, provides a clear description and analysis of a complex issue that is often clouded by rhetoric. 

MDA Director Sees Stable Future for Programs

The head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is projecting a sense of confidence that despite the federal government’s focus on cutting the deficit, the agency’s signature programs—the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system and the Phased Adaptive Approach for Europe—are likely to escape major budget reductions.

The Reign in Spain

  

Rota Naval Base

  

Dear Members and Friends, Our nation’s Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta announced a bi-lateral agreement with the country of Spain to base four U.S. Navy Aegis ships out of the Rota Naval Base located off the coast of Spain near the Strait of Gibraltar and entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.

Thaad, SM-3 Tests Continue, GMD Grounded

 Two long-awaited intercept tests are slated for U.S. terminal and ship-based defenses in the coming months, but the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) campaign remains stalled for at least another year while engineers sort out a problem with the kill vehicle.

Rose-Colored Glasses

Dear Members and Friends,

In a dimly lit ballroom at the Van Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Lt Gen Patrick O’Reilly gave the annual status and future prospectus of United States missile defense.  A receptive audience, composed of hundreds of members from the defense industry and the community whom the Missile Defense Agency supports from their complex in nearby Redstone Arsenal, was in attendance at the U.S. Army’s 14th annual Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) Conference. 

Northrop sensor manager shines in test

Northrop Grumman carried out real-time cueing of the Airborne Infrared sensor for the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System with the Integrated Sensor Manager.

OPINION: Iran Shows Need For Missile Defense

Iran, along with North Korea, continues to pursue technologies that could support long-range missile development.

Iranian Tests Underscore Value of Obama Missile Defense Plan

 

Even as the U.S. begins to reduce its involvement in Afghanistan, the potential source of future conflicts in the region, the Islamic Republic of Iran, is moving aggressively to expand its political and military power. Teheran is reported to be reaching out to its neighbors, Iraq, Afghanistan and even Pakistan in a seeming bid to supplant Washington as an ally. At the same time, President Ahmadinejad defiantly declares that his country will continue to enrich nuclear fuel, an advanced step on the path to a nuclear weapon.