LOUISVILLE, Ky., 26 Jan. 2011.Missile defense experts at the Naval Weapon Systems segment of the Raytheon Co. Missile Systems division in Louisville, Ky., are looking to Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc. in Charlotte, N.C., to provide embedded computing technology for the U.S. Navy Centurion weapon system under terms of a $5.7 million contract.Curtiss-Wright will provide single-board computers, digital signal processor (DSP) boards, and buffer memory cards for Centurion -- a land-based version of the Raytheon Phalanx naval Gatling gun designed to shoot down incoming rockets, artillery shells, and mortar rounds in flight before they cause damage. Centurion, which Raytheon builds for the U.S. Army, is mounted to a swiveling base and fires 20-millimeter bullets at a rate of 50 to 75 rounds per second, and shreds incoming munitions with a curtain of bullets before impact.Raytheon's initial contract to Curtiss-Wright Controls, worth $5.7 million, was for deliveries in 2010. The contract has options for additional deliveries in 2011 potentially worth $5 million.Curtiss-Wright will develop the single-board computers at its San Diego facility, the DSP boards at the company's Ashburn, Va., facility, and the buffer memory modules at its Chatsworth, Calif., location. Curtiss-Wright will ship the systems to Raytheon in Louisville, Ky.
Curtiss-Wright will provide Raytheon with its SVME-412 DSP board, SCP-122 single-board computer, SPMC-230 StarLink module, and MM-6790F/8M flash module. The boards will provide processing for the Centurion weapon system. The Curtiss-Wright boards will control the system's target tracking system radar and to compute fire correlations in the main system computer.
