US-based Raytheon Company has been awarded a $64.8 million contract by the Jordan armed forces to upgrade their M60A3 main battle tanks with Raytheon's Integrated Fire Control System (IFCS).
Raytheon will manufacture and test 82 IFCS upgrade kits in the United States and will provide technical assistance to Jordan armed forces personnel during the installation in the Kingdom. Spares and depot-maintenance equipment to establish a limited depot-support capability in Jordan will also be provided under this contract.
Raytheon Technical Services Company (RTSC) has been working with Jordan's King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) for the past three years on its Phoenix Level 1 IFCS upgrade and Level 2 lethality upgrade efforts for the M60 main battle tank, a program designed to incrementally increase the M60's operational capability.
Through that effort, one battalion has been fitted with this upgrade capability and deployed and is in-service with the Jordan armed forces; a second battalion is currently being outfitted with the upgrade. More than 2,000 rounds have already been successfully fired using the Phoenix Level 1 upgraded tanks.
The IFCS modernization resolves the logistics problems and increased obsolescence issues the M60 main battle tank's existing fire-control system experiences. The pre-upgrade sight system technology also limits the accuracy and the mobility of the tank. The IFCS upgrade provides the M60 with a true shoot-on-the-move capability, a significant improvement in performance.
KADDB is the Jordanian governmental research, design and development facility created to provide one-stop solutions for the supply of defense and commercial products and equipment optimized for the requirements of the Middle East. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
