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“SM6 combines the best of our SM2, SM3
and AMRAAM missiles, providing an enhanced anti-air
warfare and over-the horizon capability at a reduced
cost,” said Mike Campisi, Raytheon Missile
Systems’ senior director of Standard Missile1,
-2, and -6 programmes. “We have delivered
more than 50 missiles ahead of schedule and under
cost, and we remain on track to reach initial
operating capability in 2013.”
In another development recently, the US missile
major was awarded a $218.5 million contract by
the Missile Defense Agency to complete the assembly
and delivery of 29 Standard Missile-3 Block IB
missiles. Launched off US Navy ships, SM-3 interceptors
protect the US and its allies by destroying incoming
short, medium, and intermediate-range ballistic
missile threats by colliding with them in space.
“The three back-to-back successful SM-3
Block IB flight tests have demonstrated the missile’s
advanced capabilities and reliability against
various threats in a variety of mission scenarios,”
said Dr Taylor Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems
president. “Combatant commanders around the
world are eager to build up their inventories
in support of Phase 2 of the Phased Adaptive Approach
starting in 2015.”
Raytheon is also poised to book billions of
dollars worth of orders for its Patriot air and
missile defence system in the existing and emerging
markets. It has recently started delivering a
new release of software, Post Deployment Build-7
(PDB-7), to its worldwide Patriot customer base.
PDB-7 is the latest in a series of software deployment
builds, revolutionising the Patriot Air and Missile
Defence System. The PDB-7 software gives soldiers
state-of-the-art capabilities by leveraging the
latest Patriot Configuration-3 hardware modernisation
improvements in the radar and battle management
command, control, communication, computers, and
intelligence (BMC4I) areas.
Technical improvements include major enhancements
that allow soldiers in the field to defend against
current threats and easily adapt and respond to
changing threat environments. The enhancements
and increases in processing power across key components
of the system give soldiers a significant advantage
in the battlefield with greater efficiency and
safety while substantially decreasing lifecycle
costs of the system.
Patriot system is already being used by 12 countries
– United States, Netherlands, Germany, Japan,
Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Greece,
Spain, South Korea and UAE. Raytheon is in active
talks to enlarge that group and upgrade existing
systems, according to Tim Glaeser, vice president
of Business Development and Strategy for Integrated
Air and Missile Defence with Raytheon’s Integrated
Defense Systems (IDS) division, in Poland is considering
buying equipment from Germany, which Raytheon
would then upgrade, and India has expressed an
interest, as have Singapore and Malaysia, Glaeser
told India Strategic a couple of months back in
Paris.
There are rumours that Raytheon also wants to
sell India the “pain gun” which it claims
would be safer than rubber bullets in quelling
unrest in the insurgency-racked country. The Silent
Guardian Protection System is an equivalent of
tear gas or water cannon — a way to subdue
rioters while inflicting minimal harm. Raytheon
says the weapon, which causes agonising pain but
no lasting damage, would be less likely to cause
injury than water cannon, tear gas or rubber bullets.
Raytheon has a well-crafted and thoughtful India
strategy that has the buy-in and support of Raytheon’s
leadership. It focuses on core principles and
values in delivering Raytheon’s cutting edge
innovative solutions, to solving some of India’s
toughest challenges in defence and homeland security.
Their Munitions Control Unit (MCU) on the Jaguar
allows for integration of different weapon systems,
which they have proposed to the IAF. It has also
the MK-54 torpedo for anti- submarine warfare
missions on the Indian P8I.
It continues to focus on helping India meet
its emerging and evolving defence modernisation
needs - with a strong focus on Integrated Air
and Missile Defence, Land Combat Systems, Naval
Warfare Systems and Undersea Capabilities, Strategic
ISR and Air Warfare Systems. This cannot be done
alone. Raytheon’s way forward has been predicated
on the belief that in order to fully understand
and serve their customers in India, it is important
they do so with long term partners, integrated
across their enterprise. This includes strategic
partnerships for the domestic and global market,
strategic sourcing, in-country support, co-production
and co-development.
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