Category Archives: Defense Department

Navy, Raytheon, weapons systems

U.S. Navy Awards Raytheon $93 Million Contract for Standard Missile-6

Raytheon has announced that it has won a $93 million contract,  the first of several planned low rate initial production (LRIP) contracts to build Standard Missile-6 systems for the U.S. Navy.  The contract includes the production of missiles and delivery of spare parts andmissile containers, with delivery early in 2011.

The SM-6 is the latest in a long line of anti-aircraft missiles Raytheon has made for the Navy, and cousin to the RIM-161 SM-3, used by the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.   SM-6 is intended for lower-flying threats, at long range, using an active seeker system (its own radar) to attack targets over the horizon.  SM-6 can also use a semi-active mode, relying partially on targeting from a target “painted” by fire control radar.

“Standard Missile-6 has been on budget and on schedule since the program started in 2004,” said Frank Wyatt, vice president of Raytheon’s Naval Weapon Systems. “LRIP clears the way for delivery to the warfighter of this integral weapon system.”

“When combined with future integrated fire control, SM-6 will provide the U.S. Navy with an extended battlespace capability against over-the-horizon AAW threats,” said Wyatt. “By taking full advantage of the Standard Missile family’s kinematics, SM-6 provides signal processing and superior guidance and control capabilities.”

via U.S. Navy Awards Raytheon $93 Million Contract for Standard Missile-6 – Sep 09, 2009.

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Air Force, Contractors & Vendors, General Atomic

Predator crashes in Afghanistan

The Air Force reports, “An Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft crashed in eastern Afghanistan Sept. 4 at approximately 8:45 p.m. Kabul time.  The crash was not due to hostile fire. There were no reports of civilian injuries or damage to civilian property at the site…A board will be convened to investigate the incident. ”

The Air Force has has taken a lot of flack for its handling of UAVs, requiring that combat-rated pilots fly the robotic aircraft — and also having lost more Predators to human error than hostile fire.  Almost a third of all Predators purchased by the Air Force have crashed (more than 70 out of the 195 purchased thus far by the Air Force), most of them resulting in a total loss of a $3.5 million aircraft.

Ironically, the crash came only two days after the findings from an investigation of another Predator crash in April near Creech AFB in Nevada. That crash was caused by a disconnected vacuum line.

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