Raytheon in Tucson will build two high-power microwave antenna systems for the Navy and Air Force that will use directed energy to defeat drones and other airborne threats.
Under the three-year, $31.3 million contract from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, Raytheon will design, build and test the prototype systems and deliver them to the Navy and Air Force as part of the Directed Energy Front-line Electromagnetic Neutralization and Defeat (DEFEND) program.
The systems, which use powerful electromagnetic pulses to defeat airborne threats, are designed to be rugged and transportable for front-line deployment, Raytheon said.
Raytheon Technologies’ advanced high-power microwave and mobile high-energy laser systems engaged and defeated multiple unmanned aerial system targets during a U.S. Air Force demonstration at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The mature HPM and HEL technologies offer an affordable solution to the growing UAS threat.
Learn more: https://www.raytheonmissilesanddefense.com/capabilities/counter-uas
Colin Whelan, president of advanced technology at Raytheon, said such non-kinetic defense systems are a key part of America’s national defense strategy.
“The new iterations of Raytheon’s high-power microwave systems are cost-effective, reliable and durable solutions that operate at the speed of light – enabling our warfighters to defend against faster and more maneuverable threats,” Whelan said.
Work on the DEFEND contract is being conducted in Tucson in partnership with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division and the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
Prototypes are expected to be delivered in fiscal years 2024 and 2026, Raytheon said.
Raytheon says the new prototype systems build on Raytheon’s decades of experience developing capabilities like the Counter-Electronic High Power Microwave Extended Range Air Base Defense, known as CHIMERA, under development now with the Air Force Research Lab.
Raytheon, the Tucson area’s biggest employer with about 12,000 local workers, also has delivered one prototype of a mobile high-power microwave system known as Phaser to the Air Force under a demonstration contract.
Since 2019, the Air Force has deployed overseas multiple units of Raytheon’s High-Energy Laser Weapon System, which can shoot down drones, rockets, artillery shells and mortars with direct laser hits.
