Raytheon to upgrade TV-guided Maverick air-to-ground missiles with the latest laser guidance
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 4 Sept. 2014. Missile designers at the Raytheon Co. are upgrading versions of the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile by replacing relatively old optical TV-guided seekers with late-model precision-guided laser sensors.
Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $49.5 million contract Wednesday to the Raytheon Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz., to convert 500 GM-65A/B guidance control sections to an AGM-65E2 configuration.
The Maverick air-to-surface missile is one of the most widely produced precision munitions in the world, and has been in use as far back as the Vietnam war in the 1970s. The aircraft-launched missile is designed for use against armored vehicles, air defenses, surface ships, ground transportation, fuel storage facilities, and similar targets.
Related: US Navy completes testing of Raytheon laser-guided Maverick missile
The early model AGM-65A/B use electro-optical television guidance systems. The AGM-65E2 version uses precision laser guidance for use against targets in cities and other densely populated areas with the potential for collateral damage. This version also is designed for use against rapidly moving targets in urban environments.
Raytheon completed testing of the latest laser-guided version of the Maverick missile in early 2012. The missile can be fired from Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18C/D Hornet strike fighters, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter-bombers, AV-8B Harrier jump jets, and other tactical aircraft.
AGM-65E2 is the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps designation for the laser-guided Maverick, while the Air Force designates laser-guided Maverick missiles as the AGM-65L.
Related: Raytheon tests upgraded laser-guided Maverick missile components
On the contract awarded Wednesday Raytheon will do the work in Tucson, Ariz.; Williamsport, Pa.; Orlando, Fla.; Ontario, Canada; Joplin, Mo.; and Grass Valley, Calif., and should be finished by January 2017.
For more information contact Raytheon Missile Systems online at www.raytheon.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
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.
