TUCSON, Ariz., Sept. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Netherlands Ministry of Defense is adding Raytheon Company's (NYSE:
RTN) Excalibur Ib artillery rounds to its arsenal under a
previously announced foreign military sales agreement, underscoring
growing international interest in the precision-guided
projectile.
The Netherlands is the second
Excalibur lb customer in Europe
after Sweden, the U.S.
government's development partner for the 155 mm round. Deliveries
are expected to begin later this year.
"When fired from the Dutch PzH 2000 artillery system, Excalibur
can fly up to 50 kilometers, score a direct hit and deliver lethal
effects in all types of weather and battlefield conditions," said
Mark Hokeness, Raytheon's Excalibur
program director. "The Netherlands
joins a growing list of nations acquiring this highly sophisticated
artillery munition, which uses GPS guidance to provide accurate,
first-round effects capability at extended ranges."
The U.S. Army has determined Excalibur Ib is fully compatible
with the PzH 2000, a self-propelled howitzer produced in
Germany and fielded by several
nations.
About Excalibur
Excalibur is a precision-guided, extended-range projectile that
uses GPS guidance to provide accurate, first-round-effects
capability in any environment. Excalibur's level of precision
delivers a major reduction in the time, cost and logistical burden
associated with using other artillery munitions. Excalibur has been
fielded by the U.S. Army, Marines and several international
military forces.
- Combat-proven: Nearly 770 Excalibur rounds have been
fired in combat with exceptional accuracy and lethality.
- Precise: Excalibur consistently strikes less than two
meters from a precisely-located target.
- Safe: Excalibur's precision avoids collateral damage and
has been employed within 75 meters of supported troops.
- Affordable: With its first round effects, Excalibur
reduces total mission cost and time and the user's logistics
burden.
- Evolving: Raytheon has demonstrated a dual-mode
GPS/semi-active laser seeker Excalibur variant to compensate for
target location error, maintain precision in GPS denied or degraded
environments, and enable engagement of relocated or moving
targets.
- Entering New Markets: With Excalibur N5, navies will be
able to deliver extended range, precision naval surface fires from
existing 5-inch/127 mm guns.
About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2014 sales of $23
billion and 61,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and
innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government
and cybersecurity markets throughout the world. With a history
of innovation spanning 93 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art
electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in
the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications
and intelligence systems, as well as cybersecurity and a broad
range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in
Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us
at www.raytheon.com and follow us on
Twitter @Raytheon
Media Contact
John
Eagles
+1.502.364.6768
rmspr@raytheon.com
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SOURCE Raytheon Company