Raytheon  to build fire-control system for Burke-class destroyers

WASHINGTON – Shipboard electronics experts at Raytheon Technologies Corp. (RTX) are building MK 99 fire-control systems for the Aegis weapon system aboard U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyers under terms of a $76.4 million contract announced in September. Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington are asking the RTX Raytheon segment in Marlborough, Mass., to build MK 99 Aegis fire-control systems, hardware, and engineering support. The MK 99 fire-control system (FCS) functions as the interface between the Aegis AN/SPY-1 radar and the ship-launched SM-2 family of anti-air missiles aboard the Burke-class destroyer. The MK 99 fire-control system communicates with the missile-control station, notifying it of the air threat, and then illuminates the missile’s target.

Source: fire-control Aegis shipboard electronics | Military Aerospace

South Korea’s defense industry transforms into a global player

SEOUL — Last year, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stated publicly a goal of one day being among the world’s top four weapons suppliers, behind the US, Russia and France. It was an ambitious goal, to be sure, but one that doesn’t seem nearly as impossible as it would have even a few years ago, thanks to a series of major deals inked by Seoul and its domestic arms industries.

Source: How South Korea’s defense industry transformed itself into a global player – Breaking Defense

US warship in Red Sea intercepts 3 missiles fired from Yemen 

WASHINGTON — A US Navy warship intercepted three missiles Thursday that had been fired by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, were heading north, and may have been aimed at Israel, the Pentagon said.US officials said the USS Carney, a Navy destroyer, was in the Red Sea and intercepted the three missiles.

Source: US warship in Red Sea intercepts 3 missiles fired from Yemen, possibly at Israel | The Times of Israel

HII wins $347M contract for ‘Lionfish’ small undersea drones 

WASHINGTON — The Navy has awarded HII a contract worth up to $347 million to purchase up to 200 unmanned undersea vehicles, the first major acquisition for the Navy’s Lionfish program, the company announced today. The initial buy for nine UUVs and associated support, worth roughly $19 million, was made on Sept. 28 through the Defense Department’s daily contract listings, but that statement did not include details about the number of drones being initially purchased or the contract’s 200 vehicle ceiling.

Source: HII wins $347M contract for up to 200 ‘Lionfish’ small undersea drones – Breaking Defense

NASA pushing for sophisticated electro-optical sensors for Earth-observation satellites 

THE MIL & AERO COMMENTARY – U.S. Earth-observation specialists are placing renewed emphasis on space-based sensors development for ever-more-sophisticated electro-optical satellite payloads to keep tabs on how the planet’s environment is evolving.

Source: NASA making big push for sophisticated electro-optical sensors for Earth-observation satellites | Military Aerospace

Raytheon Ready to protect the homeland 

One important defense against those threats are surface-based radars that can see over the horizon to provide earlier warning and cue defensive measures. Raytheon Technologies is using its decades of expertise as an integrator of missile defense systems to develop a first-of-its-kind, next-generation over-the-horizon radar to defend the homeland. The new system will be able to quickly detect, track and classify cruise missiles – day or night, and in any conditions, including when the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are on display.

Source: News | Ready to protect the homeland | Raytheon Missiles & Defense

Army asks industry for new electro-optical means to merge targeting for laser and conventional weapons 

FORT BELVOIR, Va. – U.S. Army targeting experts are reaching out to industry for new ways of designing electro-optical beam director gimbals that merge high-energy laser targeting capability with conventional targeting capability. Officials of the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) at Fort Belvoir, Va., released a request for information (W50RAJ-23-RFI-NBD) on Tuesday for the Novel Beam Directors project.

Source: Army asks industry for new electro-optical means to merge targeting for laser and conventional weapons | Military Aerospace

The technological challenges of complex missile defense 

NASHUA, N.H. – Today’s long-range missiles require long-range defenses. Missile defense is a broad term for a wide variety of technologies and techniques. With some differences in place depending on the altitude of the threat, today’s missile defense is in effect an electronic blanket over ally nations.

Source: The technological challenges of complex missile defense | Military Aerospace

New facilities will keep Lincoln Laboratory at the forefront of advanced prototyping 

In 1951, the Department of Defense (DoD) needed a homeland air defense system. To develop one, they established with MIT the federally funded research and development center Lincoln Laboratory, where the nation’s first homeland air defense system, SAGE, was successfully prototyped. In the nearly 70 years since then, the Laboratory has continued to innovate technology for the nation — radars, imagers, lasers, and microelectronics that are key to modern defense systems. As technology has progressed, however, some Lincoln Laboratory facilities have not: the original 1950s buildings still make up nearly half the square footage of the Laboratory.

Source: New facilities will keep Lincoln Laboratory at the forefront of advanced prototyping | MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Raytheon upgrades LTAMDS missile-defense radar to handle advanced threats like hypersonic munitions

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – Missile defense experts at Raytheon Technologies Corp. will carry out upgrades and technology insertion to a new radar system to help defeat quickly evolving missile threats such as hypersonic weapons. Officials of the U.S. army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., announced a $122 million three-year contract Tuesday to the Raytheon Missiles & Defense segment in Andover, Mass., for the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) pre-planned product improvement Increment III upgrades effort.

Source: Raytheon to upgrade LTAMDS missile-defense radar to handle advanced threats like hypersonic munitions | Military Aerospace

Japan to equip PAC-3s with more advanced radar to counter hypersonic weapons

Discussions have begun on equipping the Air Self-Defense Force’s PAC-3 surface-to-air antimissile systems with radar better able to counter hypersonic weapons, several government officials said.

Source: Japan to equip PAC-3s with more advanced radar to counter hypersonic weapons – The Japan News

Fake parts: A Pentagon supply chain problem hiding in plain sight

WASHINGTON — For about half the summer, 18 newly completed F-35 fighter jets sat outside Air Force Plant 4, a Lockheed Martin-operated facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Instead of flying to military bases around the world, the F-35s were parked while U.S. Defense Department officials tried to untangle the supply chain mess that had stuck them there.

Source: Fake parts: A Pentagon supply chain problem hiding in plain sight