TUCSON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has given Raytheon the go-ahead to complete the assembly and delivery of 29 Standard Missile-3 Block IB interceptor missiles.
The contract is worth more than $218.5 million.
SM-3 interceptors destroy incoming short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles by colliding with them in space. Raytheon said the kinetic force is a force equivalent to a 10-ton truck traveling at 600 mph at point of impact.
Raytheon will supply the next-generation Block 1B to the U.S. military in 2015.
"The three back-to-back successful SM-3 Block IB flight tests have demonstrated the missile's advanced capabilities and reliability against various threats in a variety of mission scenarios," said Dr. Taylor Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president. "Combatant commanders around the world are eager to build up their inventories in support of Phase 2 of the Phased Adaptive Approach starting in 2015."
The Phased Adaptive Approach is for deployment of sensors and sea- and land-based missiles in Europe as well as in the United States.
The new Block 1B will be deployed on shore as well as aboard ships.
Raytheon said final assembly of the missiles will take place at its new Redstone Missile Integration Facility in Huntsville, Ala. Guidance sections and guidance units will be built at the Raytheon Missile Systems Space Factory in Tucson.
"The Redstone Missile Integration Facility will prove critical as we ramp up our manufacturing capacity on the path to SM-3 Block IB full-rate production," said Dr. Mitch Stevison, Raytheon Missile Systems' SM-3 program director.
