Congress protests DDG-100 cancellation

Recently the US Navy announced that it was not going to continue the DDG-100 program. Two ships are under construction by Northrop-Grumman and General Dynamics. Not unexpectedly the Senators from the affected states, mainly Massachusetts and Maine, have protested. See an article here. The major recent the Navy cites is the continued cost growth of the program. The first two were projected at under $4 B each, but now the estimates are over $5.5 B. Other than the shipbuilders, Raytheon is the most affected company as it was building the combat system of sensors for the ship. The Navy intends to continue production of the DDG-51 class instead. Read more

Raytheon reports

July 24, 2008 by Dagpotter · Comment
Filed under: Earnings, Raytheon 

Raytheon had higher income this quarter compared, but had a decline in net.  See a story release here.  Raytheon continues the trend of defense contractors reporting increases in sales and income but not necessarily profits.  Raytheon did predict that 2008 will be a good year for the company with a 15% increase in revenue.

Navy continues CEC work

July 21, 2008 by Dagpotter · Comment
Filed under: Contract Awards, IT, Raytheon, U.S. Navy, development program 

Raytheon was awarded a contract today to continue work on Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC).  See a press release here.  CEC is a natural development of the work the Navy has done with datalinks for the last 50 plus years.  By the Nineties the Navy was able to share the sensor picture from one ship with others over a tactical data link.  Even during the Gulf War this was not good enough for targeting.  CEC’s goal is to develope a netted sensor grid that will support providing a fire control solution good enough that one ship can guide a missile launched from another.  The Navy was installing CEC on selected ships by the end of the Twentieth Century. For more on CEC see this.

Raytheon spreads the wealth around

Raytheon subcontracted with the small business Sonju Industrial to build missile components. See an article here. Sonju Industrial is a small business and will partner with Raytheon through the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) mentor-protege program. The contract will allow significant growth of Sonju Industrial. This is another example of how defense dollars flow to every part of the US and their significance to the nation’s economy.

Small companies, small parts, big dollars

Kuchera Defense Systems won a sub-contract from Raytheon to build parts of the transmitter for the Sea Sparrow ship based air defense system. See an article here. The contract could be worth over $3 M if the next option is awarded as well as this $1.6 M base contract. The company employs less then twenty people in making the part, but it shows that bigger systems spill down to small companies and that building a modern weapon integrates a variety of suppliers and components.

Raytheon gains on missiles

April 25, 2008 by Dagpotter · Comment
Filed under: Boeing, Earnings, Raytheon 

Raytheon posted a solid quarter with profits rising 15%. See the press release here. Much of this was due to the work on PATRIOT and other missile systems, including significant foreign orders. This means that the first two large defense contractors to report, Boeing and Raytheon, have done very well recently. This should continue as long as the defense budgets remain large which can be expected for at least the next two years.

Two rivals team together for missile contract

Two of America’s largest defense contractors will join together to pursue the next generation air launched missile. Raytheon and Boeing announced that they signed a teaming agreement to prepare for the Joint Air to Ground Munition (JAGM) development program. See the press release here. The JAGM will replace Hellfire and Maverick missiles for launch from both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. JAGM is at the early stages of its life and was started after the failure of the Joint Common Missile (JCM) program. See this for more on that. There is certainly no denying that the aging Hellfire and Maverick need replacing, although the Hellfire especially has seen a lot of use from OH-58D, AH-64 and Predator UAV in Afghanistan and Iraq. If Boeing and Raytheon team that leaves Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics as the only other US companies that might bid on such a program.

Busy day for contract awards

A great deal of contracts were announced today by DoD. See Defenselink.mil press release for more here. Highlights include a $50 M contract to General Atomics for the Air Force to buy 24 Predators and a $119 M contract to Raytheon for South Korean FMS of PATRIOT PAC-3.

Army awards two contracts to Raytheon for PATRIOT

February 13, 2008 by Dagpotter · Comment
Filed under: Contract Awards, Raytheon, U.S. Army 

Raytheon announced that they had won two contracts to support the Army’s PATRIOT program. See the article on bizjournals.com for more. The two contracts are worth $377 M and provide for the refurbishment of launchers and missiles.