PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 30 June 2010. Raytheon Technical Services Co. in Indianapolis will develop and maintain avionics software for the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft under terms of a $250.5 million U.S. Navy contract awarded Monday.
The quarter-billion-dollar contract also calls for Raytheon to develop situational awareness and blue force trackingsoftware and prototype hardware for the V-22 avionics, as well as to support aircraft avionics acquisition on the Osprey.
Blue force tracking uses Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite navigation to show the locations of friendly and enemy military forces. This graphic approach that shows on avionics displays how forces are arrayed typically uses blue to designate friendly forces, red for enemies, and green or yellow for neutral forces.
The is a multi-mission military tiltrotor aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. It combines the characteristics and utility of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft. The U.S. Marine Corps fielded the Osprey in 2007.
Raytheon should be finished with this contract by September 2014. Awarding the contract are officials of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.
For more information contact Raytheon Technical Services Co. online at www.raytheon.com or the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at www.navair.navy.mil/nawcad.
