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.
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.
