Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., announced an $8 million contract modification Friday to the Raytheon Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz., for phase-2 of the Multi Azimuth Defense Fast Intercept Round Engagement System (MAD-FIRES) program.
The goal of MAD-FIRES is to develop enabling technologies for a medium-caliber guided projectile that would combine the guidance, precision, and accuracy of missiles with the speed, rapid-fire capability, and large ammunition capacity of medium-caliber bullets like 20-to-40-caliber ammunition designed to destroy lightly armored vehicles, aircraft, and personnel.
This contract modification asks Raytheon to build and test prototype MAD-FIRES smart bullets. During the first phase of MAD-FIRES Raytheon worked on concepts, simulations, and risk reduction. Also working on the program's first phase was the Lockheed Martin Corp. Missiles and Fire Control segment in Grand Prairie, Texas.
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As originally conceived, DARPA officials said they expected several contracts for the first and second phases of the MAD-FIRES program, so it's likely that Lockheed Martin eventually will receive a MAD-FIRES phase-2 contract, as well.
Attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), missiles, small planes, fast in-shore attack boats, and other maritime threats pose a deadly and evolving threat to ships and other maritime vessels, DARPA officials say.
These kinds of threats demand that Navy ships have access to leading-edge defensive capabilities -- specifically an ability to engage several different kinds of targets coming quickly from a range of directions. Ultimately, Navy leaders want the ability to defend against these kinds of swarming attacks rapidly and with high precision using today's close-range shipboard deck guns.
MAD-FIRES aims to advance the state-of-the-art in defensive gun systems by creating a new, low-cost technological foundation for guided, gun-launched projectiles.
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The program seeks to incorporate enhanced ammunition rounds able to alter their flight path in real time to stay on target, and a capacity to target, track, and engage several fast-approaching targets simultaneously and re-engage any targets that survive the initial engagement.
Friday's $8 million order to Raytheon increases the total value of the company's MAD-FIRES work to $27 million. Raytheon will do the work in Tucson, Ariz.; Chelmsford, Mass.; and McKinney, Texas, and should be finished by March 2018.
For more information contact Raytheon Missile Systems online at www.raytheon.com, or DARPA at www.darpa.mil.
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