TUCSON, Ariz., Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has
been awarded a $38.6 million U.S. Army contract to develop the laser radar
(LADAR) technology base for the next generation of interceptors for the
Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO).
Under the Army's Advanced Discriminating LADAR Technology (ADLT) program,
Raytheon is developing a range-resolved, Doppler imaging LADAR sensor to
enhance the Ground-based Midcourse Defense Segment's exoatmospheric kill
vehicle (EKV) with additional discrimination capability.
The ADLT LADAR system uses an ultrastable laser transmitter to interrogate
targets much like a radar system. The reflected energy from targets is
received and Doppler-processed to first gather range and velocity data and
then create a Range-Resolved, Doppler Image (RRDI) which yields the target's
micromotions. This RRDI imagery can be made at very long ranges, much before
camera-based systems can resolve the target.
The ADLT sensor is the world's first compact, transportable, solid-state
RRDI LADAR system. Raytheon's prior work on ADLT at the Army Missile Optical
Range, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., resulted in the successful testing of an
initial prototype. That testing then paved the way for current technology
development and the design, fabrication and demonstration of a more advanced,
near tactically packaged, "brassboard" sensor.
ADLT will provide an increased level of discrimination capability for
ground and/or sea-based midcourse interceptors in the future against the most
difficult threat countermeasures. Although it was designed with EKV in mind,
it could be integrated into other missile defense systems that need enhanced
capability against evolving, sophisticated ballistic missile threats.
BMDO and the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command have been
developing advanced technologies to maintain superiority for missile defense
for more than 25 years. The new LADAR technology program should lead to
significant enhancements in the state-of-the-art for future interceptor
seekers.
The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command is the contracting
agency. Raytheon's work will be done by its Missile Systems business unit in
Tucson, Ariz. Development of the LADAR subsystem will be done by Boeing-SVS
and Goodrich's Space Flight Systems group, both of Albuquerque, N.M., and by
Raytheon Electro-Optics Systems of El Segundo, Calif.
Based in Lexington, Mass., Raytheon Company is a global technology leader
in defense, government and commercial electronics, and business and special
mission aircraft.
Contact:
Sara Hammond
520.794.7810
SOURCE Raytheon Company
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Related links:
http://www.raytheon.com
CONTACT:
Sara Hammond of Raytheon Company,
+1-520-794-7810
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