The Navy last week awarded Raytheon [RTN] a $51.7 million low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract for Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2 production, the company said in a statement.
The firm-fixed-price contract, not competitively procured, is for 51 Block 2 MK-44 Mod 4 RAM guided missile round pack all-up-rounds, according to a Navy statement. The deal, awarded July 31, includes options, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to more than $105 million.
Raytheon Deputy Director for the RAM Program Alan Davis told Defense Daily Friday in a phone interview the contract is a two-year deal with fiscal year 2012 counting for approximately $52 million. Davis also said the Navy has an option for FY ’13, also at around $52 million.
Davis said Raytheon is wrapping up the RAM Block 2 development program and will perform developmental testing from fourth quarter 2012 through 2013. Davis said the company will go into initial rate production, based on this contract award, in 2013 with deliveries in 2014.
RAM is a missile system designed to provide anti-ship missile defense for multiple ship platforms. RAM Block 2 features enhanced kinematics, an evolved radio frequency receiver, a new rocket motor, and an upgraded control and autopilot system, according to a Raytheon statement. Davis said the enhanced kinematics will help Raytheon address new and emerging threats the Navy and its allied forces need to combat against.
RAM is a cooperative program between the United States and Germany.