Raytheon/Lockheed Martin joint venture to build Javelin anti-armor missiles U.S. and allied forces
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., 7 Oct. 2014.Missile experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co., are building 534 Javelin Block 1 anti-armor missiles for infantry warfighters under terms of an $84.3 million contract announced last week.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., are asking the Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture based in Tucson, Ariz., to build Javelin missiles and Javelin command launch unit retrofits for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps., as well as for the militaries of Jordan and Qatar.
Javelin, made by Raytheon Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., is an infantry fire-and-forget missile with lock-on before launch and automatic self-guidance designed to destroy main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other armored combat vehicles. The missile also is effective against buildings and enemy helicopters.
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Javelin is a fire-and-forget missile with lock-on before launch and automatic self-guidance that attacks the vulnerable tops of armored vehicles. The missile has an imaging infrared seeker and two shaped-charge warheads. A two-person infantry team typically carries the missile.
Block 1 Javelin missile features an improved rocket motor that will reduce the missile's time of flight; improvements to the command launch unit (CLU); software enhancements and an enhanced performance warhead that increases Javelin's lethality against a wide range of targets.
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Raytheon produces the command launch unit, missile guidance electronic unit, and system software at Raytheon Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz. Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, produces the missile seeker and the electronic safe, arm and fire electronic module in Ocala, Fla., and performs missile all-up-round assembly in Troy, Ala.
On this contract the Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture will do the work in Tucson, Ariz., and should be finished by September 2023.
For more information contact Raytheon at www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/javelin, or Lockheed Martin at www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/Javelin.
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.
