source defencetalk.com
TUCSON, Ariz., June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire
The U.S. Army awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) a $36 million contract for the final phase of the Excalibur Ib development program. This phase concludes with warfighter tests and will qualify Excalibur Ib for fielding.
The Excalibur Ib is a long-range, precision-guided artillery projectile based on Raytheon's combat-proven Excalibur Ia. Excalibur Ib features a non-spinning fixed base, uses fewer parts and requires simpler manufacturing than Excalibur Ia resulting in increased reliability and a significantly reduced cost.
"Raytheon has conducted more than 50 live-fire tests since August 2010, and the results from these tests have enabled our talented engineers to further refine the Excalibur Ib design," said Michelle Lohmeier, vice president of Raytheon's Land Combat product line. "By consistently demonstrating an unprecedented precision capability, we have high confidence in our Excalibur Ib design as the objective solution."
Excalibur Ib was designed to grow with the needs of the warfighter and incorporates a reprogramming port that makes it possible for the warfighter to modify the performance of the round in response to changing threats and evolving tactics.
Excalibur is the world's only deployed extended-range GPS-guided artillery round, and has been fired more than 300 times in theater since its early fielding in 2007. Both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps have increased their use of this life-saving weapon over the past year.
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