Raytheon Awarded Airborne Sonar Contract

Raytheon received an $81.1 million U.S. Navy contract for the AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS), the primary undersea warfare sensor for the Navy's MH-60R multi-mission helicopter. According to Raytheon, the system provides undersea warfare mission support capabilities, including submarine detection, tracking, localization, classification, acoustic intercept, underwater communication and environmental data collection. System capabilities were recently tested as part of a U.S. Navy undersea warfare exercise conducted by the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group in the Western Pacific Ocean. During the exercise, ALFS was deployed as the primary anti-submarine warfare (ASW) sensor onboard the MH-60R, charged with defending the surface ships before the submarines could come within range to launch an attack. According to Navy officials, the carrier strike group successfully engaged all submarine targets over the three-day period. Under the contract, IDS will manufacture, integrate, test and deliver 23 new ALFS systems as well as provide miscellaneous weapons replaceable assemblies for systems under test and helicopter maintenance trainer assets. To date, Raytheon has delivered 26 ALFS systems and is currently under contract for 80. Raytheon is also under contract to provide spares for life-cycle support of fleet-deployed systems.