Raytheon Gets $170M Order for UAE AGM-65 Maverick Missiles
Feb 03, 2010 16:35 EST
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Raytheon received a $170 million foreign military sales contract from the USAF to produce AGM-65D and AGM-65G2 infrared-guided Maverick air-to-surface missiles for the UAE.
AGM-65 rose to prominence during Desert Storm, when many of TV’s missile-eye views of air strikes came from Mavericks. The missile is produced in 3 versions: TV-guided, imaging infrared (IIR) guided, and laser-guided.
This contract is for infrared-guided missiles, which are effective at night or in bad weather. They can be fired from the UAE’s fleet of F-16 fighter jets, as well as 24 other types of aircraft…
The infrared seeker [PDF] on the AGM-65D and G missiles presents a TV-like image on the cockpit display as it senses small differences in heat energy between target objects and the surrounding background. The image is also used for tracking objects; tracking software enables the missile to distinguish between decoys and legitimate targets. This makes countermeasures to defeat the missile much more difficult to develop.
The AGM-65D uses a 125-pound warhead with a forward-firing conical-shaped charge for armor penetration. The AGM-65G employs a 300-pound blast fragmentation/penetrator warhead that was developed for larger, reinforced targets; selectable fuzing gives the aircrew the option of detonating the warhead on impact or after penetration.
The AGM-65 Maverick family of precision-attack missiles is used by the air, naval and marine forces of 33 countries. More than 69,000 missiles have been produced to date, and more than 6,000 have been used in combat with a 93% success rate.
