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The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a new five-year, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guidance kits to equip U.S. armed forces with tens of thousands of additional low-cost precision munitions. The contract has a maximum value of $1.7 billion, with an initial $322 million order.
The new contract supports increased domestic and international demand, enabling the Navy to purchase APKWS guidance kits over a five-year period. The kits are available to all U.S. armed forces, as well as allies via foreign defense sales. The APKWS guidance kit completes the mission and controls the cost. APKWS kits are combat proven as an air-to-surface, surface-to-surface, surface-to-air, and air-to-air munition.
“This award reinforces the value of proven and cost-efficient precision munitions, which have consistently demonstrated their effectiveness and versatility across multiple platforms and missions,” said Neeta Jayaraman, director of Precision Guidance and Sensing Solutions at BAE Systems, in a company news release. “The APKWS guidance kit provides advanced capabilities to our armed forces and foreign allies, and high-volume production ensures rapid and efficient delivery to the warfighter.”
APKWS guidance kits transform unguided 2.75-inch rockets into laser-guided rockets for precision strikes. Operators can use the combat-proven kit to engage a range of soft and armored stationary and moving targets, minimizing collateral damage. APKWS guidance kits accurately strike air and ground targets, giving operators the ability to use them in a wide range of missions. The highly versatile kit can be fired by various platforms, including rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles, static and mounted ground platforms, and maritime vessels.
The APKWS guidance kit is compatible with new and existing inventories of rocket motors, warheads, and fuzes. It requires minimal training to use in the field and has a simple, affordable maintenance concept, making it an efficient way to transform an unguided rocket into the precision munition of choice.
BAE Systems has been in full-rate production with its APKWS guidance kit for more than 12 years, allowing the U.S. armed forces and its allies to engage a variety of targets at a fraction of the cost of traditional munitions. BAE Systems leverages a robust supply chain and proven manufacturing capacity to deliver the guidance kit with speed and reliability.
The U.S. Government’s only program of record for 2.75”/70mm guided rockets, our APKWS guidance kit transforms unguided 2.75-inch (70 millimeter) rockets like the Hydra 70 Mk 66 and others into precision-guided munitions (PGMs). Qualified on numerous U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) platforms, APKWS laser guidance kits provide affordable surgical-strike capability to multiple rotary-wing and fixed-wing platforms. Development, testing, and demonstrations are underway for unmanned (UAS) aircraft, as well as ground-based platforms.
The APKWS system bridges the gap between unguided rockets and larger anti-armor munitions with commonality across the U.S. military services – Navy, Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force. The APKWS system consistently delivers pinpoint accuracy for the highest lethality available against soft and lightly-armored targets at a lower cost than other systems.
First put into production in 2008, the APKWS laser-guidance kit proved to be one of the most accurate, effective, and easy to implement systems in the world for converting unguided rockets into laser-guided rockets (LGR). With our continued development, the system is undergoing live fire testing from a range of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs).
Today’s system has also proven itself capable in air-to-air targeting of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and low-flying cruise missiles – as part of a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) – as well as in ground-to-ground lethality fired from launchers mounted on vehicles and remote weapon stations.
Mission and platform flexibility, as well as its light weight and low cost of integration, makes our APKWS system one of the most highly capable and useful combat weapons available to every department of the U.S. DoD and to U.S. allies. In fact, since its introduction, over 50,000 APKWS units have been sold for service worldwide.
Photo credit: BAE Systems
Dario Leone: All articles
