Navy asks RTX Raytheon for shipboard air-defense missiles with dual-mode guidance in $118.5 million order
WASHINGTON – Shipboard missile-defense experts at RTX Corp. will provide the U.S. Navy with quick-reaction missiles to protect surface warships from aircraft, missiles, and small surface vessels, under terms of a $118.5 million order announced in late October.
Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington are asking the RTX Raytheon segment in Tucson, Ariz., to provide Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2/2A/2B. The order includes guided missile round packs, spare parts, and recertification.
The air-defense RAM and the MK 49 launcher and support equipment make up the RAM MK 31 Guided Missile Weapon System (GMWS). RAM is a ship self-defense weapon designed to protect Navy surface warships of all sizes, ranging from 500-ton fast attack craft to 95,000-ton aircraft carriers.
A supersonic, lightweight, quick-reaction, fire-and-forget weapon, the RAM missile system is designed to attack enemy helicopters, aircraft, and surface craft. It uses passive RF and infrared dual-mode guidance for engaging several threats simultaneously.
Enhanced RF receiver
RAM Block 2 for shipboard use has a large rocket motor, advanced control section, and an enhanced RF receiver able to detect quiet threat emitters. It is more maneuverable and longer range than its predecessors.
The MK 44 guided missile round pack and the MK 49 guided missile launching system together hold 21 missiles. Existing shipboard sensors can provide the system with target and pointing information.
The MK 44 missile, also part of the SeaRAM anti-ship missile defense system, is replacing the M601A1 Gatling gun in the Phalanx close-in weapon system with an 11-round launcher.
The Phalanx system’s infrared sensor suite and internal combat management system reduces its dependence on the ship’s combat system and enables a fast reaction.
Infrared sensor
The RAM is an international cooperative program between the U.S. and Germany. Raytheon shares development, production, and maintenance with the German companies MBDA Missile Systems in Schrobenhausen, Germany; Diehl BGT Defence (DBD) in Überlingen, Germany; and RAM-System GmbH (RAMSYS) in Ottobrunn, Germany.
On this contract Raytheon and its partners will do the work in Ottobrunn, Germany; Tucson, Ariz.; Keyser, W.Va.; Glenrothes Scotland; Cincinnati; and other locations, and should be finished by July 2028.
For more information contact RTX Raytheon online at www.rtx.com/raytheon, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
