Looking to improve its lethality, survivability and situational awareness in harsh situations, the U.S. Army turned to RTX this week with a $117.5 million contract for a next-generation targeting and surveillance system meant to support its Abrams Tanks and other fighting vehicles.
“This technology supports the U.S. Army’s modernization effort to ensure the force is ready to address near-peer competitors,” Torrey Cady, vice president, Electro-Optical (EO) & Infrared (IR) Solutions at Raytheon, said. “Our technological advancements in the sensors reduce latency and give military forces a critical battlefield edge by exceeding overall performance of prior generation systems.”
RTX will supply 3rd Generation Ford Looking Infrared (3GEN FLIR) B-Kit sensors for the military’s combat platforms, provided mostly from its McKinney, Texas operations. The dual-band infrared technology has been dubbed platform agnostic, providing a common ground for all uses. It’s usable for target detection, recognition and identification, thanks to high resolution imagery.
The 2nd generation of the FLIR sensors produced more than 25,000 items over the past 20 years for various uses. Thanks to concerted government and industry partnership efforts, RTX added that cost savings were achieved and engineering best practices maintained.