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Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Raytheon was awarded two contracts from the U.S. Air Force on Thursday for advanced medium range air-to-air missiles, or AMRAAMs, for the United States and multiple foreign countries. The contracts, announced on Thursday by the Department of Defense, total $659.9 million -- $634 million for production of AMRAAMs and related issues, and $25.7 million for equipment related to the missiles.
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Both contracts are firm-fixed-price and fixed-price-incentive firm-target deals, which taps the defense contractor to provided an unspecified quantity of AIM-120 AMRAAMs.
Additionally, the contracts will provide the respective countries with technical support for the AMRAAM missiles, to include, special tooling, test equipment, spares and telemetry kits, said the Pentagon press release.
The AMRAAM is preferred over other types of similar armament due to the operational flexibility in a wide variety of combat scenarios, including air-to-air and ground-to-air engagement. The weapon is considered a "fire and forget" missile, meaning the AMRAAM's advanced active guidance section provides aircrews with a high degree of precision and lethality.
Work on the contracts will occur in Tucson, Ariz., and they are not all for the same countries.
Japan, Korea, Morocco, Poland, Indonesia, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Bahrain and Qatar, are set to receive AMRAAMs and their support systems, with work on the $634 million contract set to be completed by Jan. 31, 2020.
Norway, Japan, Korea, Morocco, Australia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Indonesia, Romania, Spain, Turkey and Qatar, under the $25.7 million contract modification, will receive special tooling and test equipment, with work on that contract expected to be completed by December 2020.
Between the two contracts, more than $431.3 million has been obligated to Raytheon at the time of award from multiple fiscal year 2017 funds. The remaining $228.6 million will be paid from foreign military sales, the Pentagon said.
