By Geoff Fein

The Army last month awarded Raytheon [RTN] Missile Systems a $232 million contract for the 120mm medium range munitions (MRM) program over a competing bid from ATK [ATK].

Raytheon, along with its teammate General Dynamics [GD], will build the gun-fired smart munition, which has a dual mode beyond line of sight capability, and will be built for the Future Combat System Mounted Combat System (Defense Daily, July 16). ATK’s team included Lockheed Martin [LMT], BAE SYSTEMS, and HR Textron [TXT].

The two teams were the only bids the Army received.

“This award establishes Raytheon as the leader in the development of affordable precision-guided projectiles. We embrace our role as the primary provider of precision projectiles for the United States, and we look forward to working in partnership with the Army, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and our suppliers as we develop this revolutionary capability for the Army’s current and future forces,” Louise Francesconi, Raytheon Missile Systems President, told Defense Daily Friday.

An ATK spokesman said the company had a good bid and was looking forward to hearing from the Army on the reason for its decision.

“We are disappointed that our solution wasn’t picked. We thought we had a good solution,” Bryce Hallowell, an ATK spokesman, told Defense Daily Friday.

ATK has not yet received a briefing on the competition from the Army.

“We are very interested in learning from the Army what the selection criteria was that drove their selection,” Hallowell said. “We are looking forward to further discussions with the Army.”

During the last three years, the Raytheon team worked closely with the Army’s Armament, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., and the Office of Program Management for Maneuver Ammunition Systems in a successful science and technology program. The program was aimed at maturing technologies necessary to enable MRM to enter into a low-risk systems design and development program.

In March 2007, the Raytheon team successfully demonstrated a dual-mode seeker using a digital semi-active laser seeker and the imaging infrared sensor when its MRM successfully hit a T-72 tank at 5.2 kilometers (3.1 miles). This was the capstone of a dual-mode seeker science and technology program that achieved its goals ahead of schedule and below cost (Defense Daily, Sept. 26).

The ATK MRM uses a semi-active laser seeker for cooperative targeting and a millimeter wave seeker to autonomously acquire and track the target, the company said. Impulse thrusters provide maneuverability to hit targets at extended ranges. The unique control system has no moving parts, providing high reliability at a low cost. The projectile flies to its target on a ballistic trajectory. Before impact, a rocket motor boosts the projectile with its embedded long-rod penetrator to lethal supersonic velocity. The ATK MRM is compatible with current combat systems such as the Abrams tank (Defense Daily, July 12)