Raytheon has been awarded a $45.5 million contract for the prototype build of the Ku Band Multi-Function RF System (MFRFS) Sense and Warn (S and W) radars for the U.S. Army.

The contract is a follow-on to an ongoing effort being performed by Raytheon to improve the performance of the Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM) S and W systems currently fielded at forward operating bases in theater of operations.

Under the contract, Raytheon will procure long-lead material and subsystems for Ku Band MFRFS prototype systems to be built in 2012. The work is in support of Program Directorate C-RAM under PEO Missiles and Space in Huntsville, Ala.

The development of the Ku Band MFRFS system heavily leverages technology developed by Raytheon on the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program.

As a precursor to the Ku Band MFRFS variant, Raytheon developed, tested and deployed a Low Quadrant Elevation (QE) MFRFS C-RAM S and W system in 14 months, utilizing residual assets from the FCS program. Eighteen additional Low QE systems, for C-RAM applications, will be deployed during the first half of 2012 using FCS assets.

Both the Low QE MFRFS and the Ku Band MFRFS systems provide improved S and W times, virtually eliminate false alarms and improve coverage of currently fielded C-RAM systems. The Ku Band system will further improve performance and reduce logistics costs.

"The MFRFS C-RAM mission is extremely important in that it provides a life-saving capability to our men and women in uniform," said Glynn Raymer, vice president of Combat and Sensing Systems for Raytheon's Network Centric Systems business.

"By reliably providing them with additional warning of incoming threats, we dramatically improve their survivability."

"And, by reusing existing technology, we are able to minimize the cost and risk of rapidly fielding improved C-RAM systems," Raymer added.