Category Archives: weapons systems

Army, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, weapons systems

Army contracts for CROWS and rockets in end-of-FY buying spree

The Army released a whole pile of contracts last week in an end-of-FY buying spree. I’ll be parsing through these–and the latest Air Force and Navy contracts–over the next day. Here are two of note:

                General Dynamics Land Systems won two change-order fixed price contracts for $6.1 million and $18.2 million, for Common Remote Operated Weapons Stations version 2 (CROWS II) kits– 98 for unspecified vehicles, and 370 for the M1A2 Abrams main battle tank System Enhancement Package v2 upgrades. CROWS II is a remotely-operated weapons station that can be aimed and operated without exposing the gunner.

In the “things that go boom” department, one of the biggest winners in this spasm of procurement was Lockheed Martin, whose Missiles and Fire Control group was awarded on Sept. 11, 2009, a $111,514,752 firm-fixed-price contract 1,152 additional rockets for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (Full Rate Production IV). GMLRS is a precision-guided rocket that uses GPS and inertial guidance to deliver its payload of 404 bomblets to within meters of the target.

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Air Force, Raytheon, weapons systems

Raytheon starts testing smarter Maverick missile

Today’s “things that go boom”  entry: Raytheon announced today that the company has begun testing a new model of the Maverick standoff attack missile for the Air Force designed for greater precision against targets in urban environments and on the move.

The new version, the AGM-65E2, is a semi-active laser guided weapon that  locks onto a target “painted” by a laser directed from the launching aircraft.  Based on the AGM-65E originally developed for the Marine Corps, which can follow a laser spot from the aircraft or a forward observer or other aircraft, the 65E2 will be less apt to be confused by movement of targets, and by clutter in a built-up area, making it less likely that it will hit the wrong target or cause “collateral damage”.

“The newest variant of the laser-guided Maverick is perfectly suited for urban combat and high-speed maneuvering targets,” said Harry Schulte, vice president of Air Warfare Systems. “Because of its accuracy and standoff range, the U.S. warfighter and our international partners can use this weapon against a variety of targets.”

Raytheon’s release at:  Raytheon Starts Developmental Testing of Upgraded Laser-Guided Maverick Missile – Sep 14, 2009.

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