Navy taps RTX Raytheon to upgrade radar-guided MK 15 Phalanx rotating machine gun for shipboard air defense

Summary points:

• RTX Corp. will upgrade, convert, and overhaul MK 15 Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS) to enhance shipboard defense against anti-ship missiles, aircraft, and drones.
• CIWS provides fast-reaction radar-guided defense, with the Block 1B variant adding forward-looking infrared sensors and visual tracking capabilities.
• The system is installed on all U.S. Navy surface combatant ships and those of 24 allied nations, with work set to finish by January 2029.

WASHINGTON – Shipboard air defense experts at RTX Corp. will upgrade and overhaul computer-controlled and radar-guided Gatling guns that defend surface warships from anti-ship missiles, manned aircraft, and drones under terms of a $205.1 million order announced earlier this month.

Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington are asking the RTX Raytheon segment in Tucson, Ariz., for MK 15 Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) upgrades, conversions, overhauls, and equipment.

CIWS (popularly known as "sea-wiz) is a fast-reaction radar-guided terminal shipboard air defense against low- and high-flying, high-speed maneuvering anti-ship missile threats that have penetrated all other defenses. It's a high-volume rotating machine gun, deployed since the early 1980s, designed to throw out a curtain of bullets that shred incoming missiles and aircraft.

Close-in threats

At sea, the CIWS is designed to defeat anti-ship missiles and other close-in threats that have pierced other lines of defense. It also has a land use as a counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar system that detects and destroys incoming rounds.

A self-contained package, the radar-guided CIWS shipboard weapons automatically handle search, detection, threat evaluation, tracking, engagement, and kill assessment. The Block 1B version of the system adds control stations that enable operators to track and identify targets visually before engagement.

The 1B variant's configuration augments the CIWS anti-air warfare capability by adding a forward-looking infrared sensor for use against helicopters and high-speed surface craft at sea. The CIWS is installed on all U.S. Navy surface combatant ship classes and on those of 24 allied nations.

On this contract Raytheon will do the work Louisville, Ky.; El Segundo, Palo Alto, San Diego, and Pomona, Calif.; Tucson and Tempe, Ariz; Andover, Mass; Colchester, Vt.; Mason, Ohio; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Norcross, Ga.; Ottobrunn Germany; Mo. (1%); Hauppauge, N.Y.; Grantsburg, Wis.; Exeter, N.H.; Galena, Kan.; and other locations, and should be finished by January 2029.

For more information contact RTX Raytheon online at www.rtx.com/raytheon, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.