Ireland Degges
Raytheon Technologies has booked a $237 million award from the U.S. Army for the provision of Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensors and Coyote effectors to detect and defeat unmanned aircraft.
Products to be delivered include fixed-site and mobile systems and a number of effectors expected to aid the Army’s U.S. Central Command operations, Raytheon announced from Tuscon, Arizona on Wednesday.
Tom Laliberty, president of land warfare and air defense at Raytheon Missiles & Defense, noted the “increasingly evident” threat of unmanned aircraft systems worldwide and emphasized the effectiveness of KuRFS radar and Coyote effectors in identifying and eliminating these targets.
When integrated with the Army’s Low, slow, small-unmanned aircraft system Integrated Defeat System, KuRFS enables 360-degree threat detection, and the cost-effective Coyote effectors attack drones.
“LIDS is operationally deployed, providing a proven, reliable and essential layer of defense against enemy drones,” Laliberty explained.
KuRFS precision targeting radar and the scaled Ku720 mobile sensing radar allow continuous detection, identification and tracking of airborne threats. Coyote Block 2 defeats single drones and swarms of different sizes and levels of maneuverability at high altitudes and long ranges.
Also part of LIDS are Northrop Grumman’s Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control system and Syracuse Research Corporation’s electronic warfare system. When combined, the three programs build a multi-mission fixed, relocatable or mobile deployed system with extended-range defense capabilities.
This contract follows multiple Army contract wins for Raytheon. Last month, the organization secured a potential $1.2 billion award to supply the service branch with Patriot Missile System fire units.
In August 2022, Raytheon received a $182 million Army contract to deliver ground-based air defense systems to Ukraine as part of a military assistance package.
Earlier, the enterprise was issued a contract to build a tactical ground station prototype for the Army in support of the Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative.
