Raytheon wins two contracts to provide multispectral sensors for search helicopters and turboprops
CRANE, Ind., 7 March 2014.Electro-optics experts at the Raytheon Co. Space and Airborne Systems segment in McKinney, Texas, won two contracts late Thursday worth a collective $22.9 million to provide multispectral sensors for U.S. military helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in Crane, Ind., awarded Raytheon the contracts to provide the Multi-Spectral Targeting System (MTS) for the U.S. Navy Sikorsky MH-60 helicopter and for the U.S. Air Force HC/MC-130J four-engine turboprop aircraft.
The Raytheon MTS contract for the MH-60 helicopter is worth $12.8 million, and the MTS contract for the HC/MC-130J aircraft is worth $10.1 million.
The Raytheon MTS is a turreted forward-looking pod combining several visible-light and infrared video cameras for long-range surveillance and high-altitude target acquisition, tracking and laser designation.
Related: Raytheon to provide UAV electro-optical targeting systems in $50.2 million contract
The Navy MH-60 helicopter is for anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, as well as for vertical replenishment, medical evacuation, and other utility helicopter jobs. The Air Force MC- and HC-130J aircraft are for infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply of Special Operations forces, and Special Operations helicopter refueling, as well as for long-range combat search and rescue.
The MTS is for the C-130 fixed-wing aircraft, the MH-60 helicopter, and the medium-altitude long-endurance MQ-9 Reaper hunter-killer unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
The MTS offers a combination of sensors that include multiple-wavelength sensors; near-infrared and color daylight TV cameras; illuminators; eyesafe rangefinders; image merging; spot trackers; and similar other avionics, Raytheon officials say.
The system offers surveillance, target acquisition, tracking, rangefinding, and laser designation for the Hellfire missile and for all tri-service and NATO laser-guided munitions such as the Paveway laser guided bomb.
Related: Raytheon moves toward full production of upgraded multispectral avionics targeting sensor
The advanced targeting forward looking infrared (ATFLIR) pod also is used with used with Paveway, JSOW, and HARM bombs and missiles. The MTS sensors carry the military designations of AAS-52, AAS-53, ASQ-228, DAS-1, and DAS-2.
The Raytheon MTS electro-optical sensor family has been integrated on more than 16 U.S. military and Department of Homeland Security aircraft, Raytheon officials say. MTS products are flying aboard special mission aircraft for NASA, special operations forces, and coalition fleets around the world.
On the MTS contract for the MH-60 helicopter Raytheon will do the work in McKinney, Texas, and should be finished by July 2015. On the HC/MC-130J Raytheon also will do the work in McKinney, Texas, and should be finished by April 2015.
For more information contact Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems online at www.raytheon.com/capabilities/global_isr, or the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, at www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/crane.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
