Raytheon Technologies‘ intelligence and space business has received two U.S. Marine Corps orders worth a combined $63 million to produce gallium nitride-powered radars for the service’s F/A-18 C/D Hornet aircraft.
The APG-79(V)4 Active Electronically Scanned Array radars will use beam steering to help Marine Corps Hornet pilots in accurately detecting and tracking enemy aircraft from huge distances, Raytheon said Monday.
According to the company, the scaled-down APG-79 radar can support air-to-air, maritime strike and air-to-surface missions of military jets.
Dave Beydler, vice president of requirements and capabilities at Raytheon Intelligence and Space, said the systems are meant to keep the Hornet, which entered Marine Corps service in 1983, operationally relevant through 2023.
RI&S will produce the APG-79(V)4 radars at its facilities in Andover, Massachusetts, and Forest, Mississippi.
Raytheon previously received radar production orders worth $110 million in total.