Raytheon continues EKV work

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TUCSON, July 16 (UPI) -- Raytheon will continue to develop, field and test the centerpiece of the U.S. ground-based missile defense system -- the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle.

The contract for the work, which includes engineering and other services, was awarded by Boeing, the prime contractor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

The contract is worth $636 million and will extend through November 2018.

"When it comes to developing, testing and deploying technologies that enable the intercept of threats in space, Raytheon is a world leader," said Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president. "We are proud to contribute to our nation's first line of defense against the threat of ballistic missiles."

The ground-based intercept EKV is designed to intercept high-speed ballistic missile warheads in space.

Raytheon's hit-to-kill vehicle EKV uses an advanced system to detect and discriminate incoming warheads from other objects, its own propulsion, communications link, discrimination algorithms, guidance and control system and computers.