Raytheon awarded $50.8m

has been awarded a $50.8m contract to supply the Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (AN/AQS-22), the primary undersea warfare sensor for the US Navy's MH-60R multi-mission helicopter. The company also received a subsequent $5.6m contract for production support.

Under the production contract, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) will manufacture, test, deliver and integrate 19 systems and provide associated services, support and weapon replaceable assemblies.

Under the 2007 support contract, IDS will provide design, production and software support, technical documentation and integrated logistics support for the Navy's existing inventory of AN/AQS-22 systems.

AN/AQS-22 provides critical undersea warfare mission support capabilities, including submarine detection, tracking, localisation, classification, acoustic intercept, underwater communication and environmental data collection. Integrated Defense Systems has been the prime production supplier providing the US Navy with these critical capabilities since 1999.

This contract extends the program's full-rate production that has been accelerated since the initial fielding of the MH-60R helicopter into the US Navy Fleet in 2006.

Work will be performed at Raytheon's Maritime Mission Center in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and Thales Underwater Systems in Brest, France.