TUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon
Company (NYSE: RTN) has successfully completed the flight test
phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)'s
Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) program.
PCAS is a package of technologies designed to speed close air
support to soldiers on the battlefield, enabling ground troops,
Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) and combat aircrews to
share real-time situational awareness and weapons systems data.
Executed in three phases, the four-and-a-half year program included
flight testing during the first six months of 2015.
"The PCAS program was able to reduce close air support response
times from nearly one hour to less than six minutes," said
Tom Bussing, Raytheon vice president
of Advanced Missile Systems. "By speeding critical information to
decision makers, PCAS could save lives in the battlespace."
During the U.S. Marine Corps' Talon Reach V exercise in March,
the program demonstrated end-to-end, fully digital weapons release
of a Griffin missile from a modified MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor
aircraft. In May, an A-10C Thunderbolt II attack aircraft and a
joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) on the ground, both using
PCAS' real-time digital communications and situational awareness
capabilities, successfully employed 10 GPS- and laser-guided
weapons in a second series of flight tests.
The PCAS system is designed to be platform-, digital radio-,
sensor-, and weapons-class agnostic, and to be portable from
platform to platform. The two main parts of the system are
PCAS-Air, which consists of smart launcher electronics and a pilot
tablet, and PCAS-Ground, which comprises the equipment used by the
JTAC.
Raytheon is the systems integrator for PCAS. The company leads
an industry team comprised of Rockwell Collins, General Electric,
BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and 5-D Systems. Raytheon brings its
expertise in overall systems integration, weapons, aircraft
integration and unmanned aircraft system ground control stations to
PCAS.
As part of its conclusion of the program, DARPA is now focusing
on transitioning PCAS technology demonstrated on both the A-10C and
the MV-22 to different military platforms. DARPA is also working
with the Army on other PCAS transition activity relevant to ground
forces and manned and unmanned aircraft.
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
Dubai
Ashley Mehl
+1.520.205.1169
Tucson
John B. Patterson
+1.520.794.4559
rmspr@raytheon.com
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SOURCE Raytheon Company