Raytheon receives $66.4 million contract for SM-3 Block IIA missile

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Raytheon Missile Systems has received a $66.4 million modification to an existing contract for the Standard Missile-3 Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense program for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

The modification will provide for engineering work, support services and analysis of the SM-3 Block IIA missile and BMD 5.1 flight testing and certification. The work will be conducted in Tuscon, Ariz., and will bring the total contract cost to $2.07 billion.

The modification has an expected completion date of Sep. 30, 2018.

The SM-3 Block IIA ballistic defense missile is a land-based transfer of the existing Aegis BMD naval system deployed by the U.S. and Japan. It is designed to intercept short and intermediate-range ballistic missiles with an attendant anti-satellite capability, as demonstrated in the destruction of a failing U.S. spy satellite in 2008.

The program is currently under development at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. The SM-3 series can based on land and sea, and uses its own kinetic energy, or "hit-to-kill," rather than explosive warheads.