Drawing Excalibur: $32.5M Contract for Raytheon
On April 13 we noted that StrikeLink software was being asked for target designation software on an “urgent need” basis to go with BAE Bofors’ new GPS-guided XM982 Excalibur shell, which has been late to field owing to glitches but recently completed final testing. Excalibur shells will be fired from the M777A2 ultra-lightweight 155mm howitzer, and are due to be fielded in Q3 2007.
Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ recently received a $32.5 million firm-fixed-price contract for Excalibur Block IA-1 shells. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (39%), Farmington, NM (1%), Niceville, FL (18%), Heraldsburg, CA (7%), Cincinnati, OH (5%), Minneapolis, MN (6%), Anaheim, CA (4%), Thousand Oaks, CA (3%), Williamsport, PA (2%), Joplin, MO (2%), Fort Lowel, MA (1%), Minneapolis, MN (1%), and Karlskoga, Sweden (11%), and is expected to be complete by June 31, 2009. This was a sole source contract initiated on March 16, 2007 by the U.S. Army Joint Munitions and Lethality Life Cycle Command at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ (W15QKN-07-C-0100).