Raytheon to supply Multi-Object Kill Vehicle technology

April 4 (UPI) -- Raytheon received a $59 million contract to conduct further Multi-Object Kill Vehicle research for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

Under the terms of the competitively awarded contract, Raytheon will support the Kill Vehicle technology risk reduction effort, which seeks to improve performance and reduce risks.

Work will be performed at Raytheon's facility in Tucson, Ariz. The U.S. Department of Defense did not disclose when they expect the company's tasks to be completed.

Raytheon received $8.8 million in fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2017 research, development, test and engineering funds at the time of the contract award. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity.

Kill Vehicles are platforms designed to counter the threat of long-range ballistic missiles. The Multi-Object Kill Vehicle, or MOKV, is Raytheon's fourth Kill Vehicle project. The company began working on the solution in 2015.