Raytheon Co. (RTN) was awarded a $230 million contract by the Missile Defense Agency for 14 Standard Missile-3 Block IA missiles and five SM-3 Block IB missiles. The SM-3 Block IA missiles would bolster the nation's inventory that is deployed around the world today aboard U.S and Japanese Navy ships.
Raytheon's SM-3 Block IB, which is designed to destroy short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats in space, includes an enhanced two-color infrared seeker for better target discrimination. This improved SM-3, which was recently successful in two back-to-back flight tests in May and June 2012, also has a Throttleable Divert and Attitude Control System that allows the kinetic warhead to propel itself toward incoming threats using short bursts of precision propulsion.
The company has delivered over135 SM-3 missiles to the U.S. and Japanese navies on time and on budget.
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