Raytheon awarded $500.6M for R&D of two radars

Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Raytheon has been awarded more than $500 million in a modified contract for research and development of two types of advanced surveillance radar systems.

The Missile Defense Agency announced Monday the $500,615,405 contract, which increases the total ceiling value from $461,492,695 to $962,108,100.

Under the modified contract, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems will continue to perform research and development support work in Woburn, Mass., for the Army Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance Control Model-2, or AN/TPY-2, and the Sea-Based X-Band radar, or SBX radar system.

The defense contractor will also continue to work on "product improvement, warfighter support, engineering services, Ballistic Missile Defense System test subject matter experts support, modeling and simulation SME support, and cybersecurity," under the modification, the MDA announced.

The contract period remains from Nov. 1, 2017 through Oct. 31, 2022, with a one year option.

The MDA based in Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity.

Raytheon got $1.5 billion for operations and sustainment for both types of weapons two years ago.

The AN/TPY-2 is a missile defense radar that can detect, classify and track ballistic missiles. It uses X-band frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum for rapid target acquisition and clarity. The X-band frequencies also enable the system to operate in two modes, one that can detect ballistic missiles as they rise, and another that guides interceptors towards warheads as they descend.

The SBX radar system is the world's largest X-band radar. The Sea-Based X-Band radar sits on stands more than 250 feet high and displaces more than 50,000 tons of water.

The X-Band radar directly supports the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system in sensor functions such as search, acquire, track, and kill assessment.

The Sea-Based X-Band platform component was developed under direction of the Boeing Company.