Laser guidance systems like Raytheon’s Paveway kits makes missile deployment more accurate. (Photo: USAF)
NATO has awarded RTX a multinational framework contract for Paveway laser guidance kits.
Paveway laser guidance kits attach to a variety of warheads. Consisting of a semi-active laser (SAL) seeker, a computer control group (CCG) which holds guidance and control systems, a thermal battery, and a pneumatic control augmentation system (CAS), they detect the reflecting light of a designating laser and use it to improve tactical targeting.
The kits come with front control canards and rear wings, to maintain the stability of the missiles to which they are fitted, while the reflected light helps guide the missile to target.
The alliance can act as a single entity on air defence procurement through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), and in particular through the Ammunition Support Partnership, a subsection of the NSPA created to manage strategic weapon system procurement and established in 1993.
That collective approach to ammunition procurement means that with a single deal, all NATO partners can immediately access the Paveway technology.
NSPA general manager Stacy Cummings said the contract was “a strategic step forward in support of NATO’s collective defence capabilities”.
By spreading the technology across NATO, the RTX contract could make a sudden, significant contribution to the NATO Defence Production Action Plan (DPAP).
Raytheon president Phil Jasper also sang the praises of collective procurement on the signing of the contract.
“Contracts like these demonstrate the value of procuring systems at scale,” Jasper said. “By aggregating demand across the alliance, we can ensure our forces have the equipment they need at the cost and volume necessary to stay ahead of the threat.”
Collective contracts like the one between NATO and RTX also allow big players in the defence industry to sell more of their systems at any one time, providing development cashflow for the next generation of international defence hardware.
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