U.S. Air Force awards Raytheon $393 million contract for continued ISR support

ROBINS AIR BASE, Ga., Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force has awarded Raytheon with a new $393 million contract to continue its support for its Distributed Common Ground System.

The DCGS is the Air Force's primary intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance collection system. Under the new contract, Raytheon is tasked to sustain and maintain a number of systems the force uses for intelligence gathering.

These platforms include unmanned aerial vehicles MQ-9 Reaper, MQ-1 Predator, MC-12, U-2, and the RQ-4 Global Hawk. Dave Wajsgras, president of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services, says his company will focus on both enhancing the performance of those platforms while providing cost savings.

"This award recognizes Raytheon's strong performance in delivering mission support solutions and significant cost savings," Wajsgras said in a statement. "We clearly understand the importance and our responsibility to sustain and maintain this critical capability for our armed forces."

The DCGS is the result of innovation and evolution from intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance programs from the Cold War era. It is comprised of 27 regionally aligned networked sites to support intelligence gathering missions.