Defense News
02/01/2010
Singapore Airshow: Raytheon, UAE Ink $170M Maverick Contract
By Wendell Minnick
SINGAPORE - Raytheon has secured a $170 million contract to provide the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 500 AGM-65D/G2 infrared-guided Maverick air-to-surface missiles, according to a press release issued by Raytheon at the Singapore Airshow on Feb. 2.
The U.S. Air Force awarded the contract under the Foreign Military Sales program managed by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, said a press release issued by Mike Nachshen, principle public relations representative for Raytheon's missile systems division.
"Raytheon will build and provide life-cycle support for more than 500 missiles. The company began production of the missile's IR [infrared] guidance and control sections in November 2008," said the press release.
Maverick missiles have been deployed in over 33 countries. To date over 69,000 AGM-65s have been produced and over 6,000 have been used in combat with a 93 percent success rate.
"Raytheon's Maverick is an affordable, combat-proven missile with a history of on-cost and on-schedule delivery, and is integrated on more than 25 aircraft," said Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon's Missile System's Air Warfare Systems' product line. "The Maverick family is a best-value solution for the warfighter who needs a direct-attack weapon, while the infrared-guided Maverick is ideally suited to counter high-speed maneuvering targets at sea, like swarming boats."
In 2008 Raytheon hit $23.23 billion in sales and will be pushing a variety of products at this year's airshow, including the new Fish Hawk wing kit. Raytheon will be displaying a model of the new system being developed for the U.S. Navy's High Altitude Anti-Submarine Weapon Concept.
The Fish Hawk combines a global positioning system controlled wing kit with the MK 54 lightweight torpedo. It is designed specifically for the upcoming Boeing P-8 Poseidon multimission maritime aircraft, but can also be fielded on the P-3C Orion. Once launched, the system glides the torpedo for water entry at a precise location to seek and destroy enemy submarines.
