The Raytheon Company was granted a $31.2 million contract to produce four Phalanx Block 1B Close-In Weapon Systems for the Egyptian Navy. The first delivery will be made in April 2005 with the remaining systems following over a six-month period.
All four systems will be produced at Raytheon Missile System's Louisville, Kentucky facility in the United States. Phalanx is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled radar and 20-millimeter gun system that automatically acquires, tracks and destroys enemy threats that have penetrated all other ship defense systems. More than 850 systems have been built and deployed in the navies of 21 nations.
The Block 1B surface mode provides both a radar and a thermal imager for identification and rapid tactical actions in the cluttered near-shore, littoral environments. This system protects ships and their crews against an increased number of threats including standard and guided artillery, helicopters, floating mines and a variety of shore-launched, anti-ship missiles. It is especially effective against the swarming attacks of small, fast gunboats.
Raytheon, with 2002 sales of $16.8 billion, is an industry leader in defense, government and commercial electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. The company employs more than 76,000 people worldwide. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
