PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy combat aircraft experts are asking Raytheon Technologies Corp. to make necessary repairs to the forward-looking infrared targeting systems in carrier-based F/A-18 jet fighter-bombers.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $325 million order last week to the Raytheon Intelligence & Space segment in McKinney, Texas, to repair the Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) electro-optical weapons-control sensor system for the F/A-18.
Raytheon's ATFLIR pod delivers pinpoint accuracy and reliability for air-to-air and air-to-ground mission support. The system enables F/A-18 crews to perform their missions in harsh conditions.
The Raytheon ATFLIR has plug-and-play performance, and integrates advanced visible-light cameras and infrared sensors with a target laser designator to locate and designate targets day or night at ranges exceeding 40 nautical miles and altitudes surpassing 50,000 feet, Raytheon officials say.
Related: Three U.S. companies take-on challenges of next-generation electro-optical and radio-frequency sensors
The Raytheon ATFLIR avionics is for all F/A-18 models to provide air crews with a substantial increase in target detection and recognition range; accuracy and assessment from long standoff ranges; advanced laser designation capability; and electro-optical and infrared imagery.
The ATFLIR integrates laser tracking and infrared targeting functions on F/A-18 aircraft into one pod to free an air-to-air weapon station for additional bombs and missiles.
On this contract Raytheon will do the work in McKinney, Texas; and Jacksonville, Fla., and should be finished by May 2025. For more information contact Raytheon Intelligence & Space online at www.raytheonintelligenceandspace.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
