Raytheon lands major contract for anti-missile defence work

The contract was awarded by Boeing Co, the prime contractor on the missile defence program, and runs through to 2018.

It covers development, fielding, testing, and operation of the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, which is designed to engage high-speed ballistic missile warheads in space.

Raytheon did not say how many of the warheads were included in the contract.

Last year the US Missile Defence Agency halted deliveries of the advanced warhead after two failed missile defence tests in 2010.

A subsequent investigation said the problem stemmed from a design flaw on the warhead’s advanced guidance system that could only be detected in outer space.

Raytheon said it had demonstrated a remedy for the problem in ground testing and was now working to ensure the solution was “repeatable and producible.” There have been eight successful intercepts since the overall program began.

Rick Lehner, spokesman for the Missile Defence Agency, said flight tests due to begin this autumn and winter and continue into the spring would confirm the readiness to resume EKV production.

Earlier versions of the warhead, without the design flaw, are deployed on ground-based interceptors housed in silos at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Raytheon Chief Executive William Swanson welcomed the contract award, which was announced at the Farnborough Airshow, saying it underscored the company’s leadership in developing cutting-edge technologies.