Raytheon to install new radar on Navy aircraft

Raytheon Co. will retrofit Super Hornet aircraft with APG-79 active electronically scanned array radars under a $54 million contract from the Navy.

The award from the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., calls for Raytheon to replace the current APG-73 radar systems with APG-79 AESA radars in an undisclosed number of the F/A-18E/F aircraft. The new units will ensure that pilots and aircrews are equipped with the most advanced technology available, company officials said.

“The added reliability and maintainability of the APG-79 result in lower life-cycle costs and enhanced capabilities for the Navy,” said Tom Kennedy, vice president for Tactical Airborne Systems at Raytheon.

Raytheon has delivered 134 AESA radars to the Navy for the Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft. With this latest contract, the retrofit orders total 38.

Work on the retrofit program, expected to be completed in December 2010, will be performed at Forest, Miss.; Dallas; El Segundo, Calif., and Andover, Mass.

Raytheon, of Waltham, Mass., ranks No. 5 on Washington Technology’s 2009 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.