Raytheon has been awarded an 18-month, $25.5 million contract to demonstrate Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency‘s close-air support system in flight.
The company has kicked off flight testing for DARPA’s Persistent Close Air Support program on an A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft and connectivity tests with Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, Raytheon said Wednesday.
“PCAS will help reduce close air support response times from as long as one hour to just six minutes,” said Tom Bussing, Raytheon vice president of advanced missile systems.
PCAS is built to help ground troops, JTACs and combat aircrews share situational awareness and weapons systems data.
Raytheon is set to integrate the PCAS system into other aircraft once flight tests complete.