WASHINGTON DC: Raytheon Technologies Corp. has landed a $60.4 millionfederal contract for work on a joint U.S.-German missile project.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Waltham, Massachusetts-basedaerospace and defense conglomerate — formed this year through the merger ofthe former United Technologies Corp. and Raytheon Co. — will provideengineering support services for the naval MK-31 RAM guided missile weaponssystem, maintaining current operability while also resolving bugs throughdesign, software, and logistics updates.
The work will be performed at Raytheon Missile Systems sites in Tucson,Arizona, and Louisville, Kentucky, and is expected to be completed byDecember 2021.
The MK-31 weapons system consists of infrared homing surface-to-airmissiles, known as rolling airframe missiles or RAM, and the MK-49launcher. It is a ship-based self-defense weapon, intended mainly for useagainst cruise missiles, and is in service aboard several American warshipclasses, including Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, Wasp-class amphibiousassault ships, and littoral combat ships.
Design, production, distribution, and upgrades are handled by Raytheon andits German counterpart, Diehl Defence GmbH, which has its headquarters inUberlingen, Baden-Wurttemberg. The U.S. and Germany have a memorandum ofunderstanding governing periodic improvements to the system, includingsoftware modifications that enable RAM missiles to engage targets such ashelicopters and other aircraft.
The U.S. Navy ultimately plans to purchase a total of 1,600 rollingairframe missiles and 115 launchers.
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The deal represents another victory for Raytheon Technologies’s defenseside, which is already enjoying a banner year due to appropriationsincluded in the $738 billion National Defense Authorization Act. Theeconomic outlook for space technologies, radar, missiles, and sensors is sopositive that the company expects to hire about 8,200 people at its defensesubsidiaries, Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Raytheon Intelligence &Space, in the coming years.
That projected growth, however, contrasts starkly with losses amongRaytheon Technologies’s commercial aerospace operations, which includeCollins Aerospace and East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney. With far fewerpeople flying due to the coronavirus pandemic and resulting travelrestrictions, demand for airplane engine repairs and other aeroparts hasfallen dramatically, contributing to a second-quarter loss of almost $4billion.
Earlier this month, CEO Gregory Hayes said the conglomerate will eliminatearound 15,000 positions among Collins, Pratt, and Raytheon Technologies’scorporate offices.
