Raytheon awarded additional $386M for foreign Paveway bomb buys

Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Raytheon has been awarded a new contract to produce the Paveway Family of Weapons, kits that turn "dumb" bombs in the precision guided bombs, for allied militaries.

The $386 million contract, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, covers "Paveway-specific activities," including studies, production, certification, integration and sustainment, referred to as a total package approach.

Paveway bombs, really kits that convert "dumb" bombs into precision weapons, can use either GPS or laser guidance, increasing both accuracy and flexibility of existing munitions.

According to Raytheon, Paveways have made up a significant number of air-to-ground precision-guided weapons used in recent years in Middle East missions, including Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Unified Protector.

The new contract is a modification to a previous one, increasing the ceiling of the previous contract, awarded in August 2018, from $110 million to $496 million.

This modification involves 100 percent military sales to countries that have either contracted to acquire or expressed interest in acquiring Paveway weapons, and is funded entirely by foreign military sales funds, the Pentagon said.

Work will be performed at Raytheon's Tucson site and at Air Force test ranges.