Raytheon was awarded a $636-million development and sustainment contract to provide the Exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) to Boeing, which is the prime contractor for the groundbased mid-course defence programme. Raytheon booked the award during its second quarter.

EKV represents the centerpiece for the Missile Defense Agency’s GMD as the intercept component of the ground based interceptor, also known as GBI, which is designed to engage high-speed ballistic missile warheads in space.

“When it comes to developing, testing and deploying technologies that enable the intercept of threats in space, Raytheon is a world leader,” said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems President. “We are proud to contribute to our nation’s first line of defence against the threat of ballistic missiles.”

Under conditions of the contract, which extends through November 2018, Raytheon will provide EKV development, fielding, testing, system engineering, integration, configuration management, equipment manufacturing and refurbishment, and operation and sustainment. Leveraging more than two decades of kill vehicle technology expertise, the EKV is designed to destroy incoming ballistic missile threats by colliding with them, a concept often described as “hit to kill.”