By Calvin Biesecker
Raytheon [RTN] on Friday said it has acquired the rights to the technology and name of the KillerBee unmanned aircraft system from Northrop Grumman [NOC], allowing it to offer the system in an upcoming Navy competition for a small UAS and create a family of unmanned aircraft.
The licensing deal gives Raytheon its first direct entr�e into the UAS business.
Raytheon’s licensing deal follows almost immediately after Northrop Grumman’s acquisition late last month of the KillerBee product line from Swift Engineering. Northrop Grumman has renamed the small UAS systems the Bat. Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector said last week that it will manage product development of Bat and employ Swift to continue work on design refinement, product line development, flight test support and manufacturing.
Raytheon plans to enter the KillerBee IV UAS in the Navy and Marine Corps’ Small Tactical UAS (STUAS) Tier II competition. The Navy has already issued a Request for Proposals for STUAS Tier II with responses due by May 19. Under the licensing deal with Northrop Grumman, Raytheon will be the only company offering the KillerBee for the STUAS Tier II program, a Raytheon spokesman told Defense Daily.
“We’re competing for STUAS Tier II but that is only the beginning,” Bob Francois, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems Advanced Programs, said in a statement. “Raytheon has rights to produce, improve and sell KillerBee IV and our plan is to continuously mature the system and tailor it to meet the needs of allied warfighters around the globe.”
Raytheon has been working with Swift on the KillerBee and the company has the knowledge to further mature the platform, the spokesman said.
The KillerBee is a blended-winglet design with a 10-foot wingspan. The KillerBee IV has a range of over 100 miles, a 15-hour flight endurance, and can carry an electro- optical/infrared payload weighing more than 30 pounds. The system has already flown more than 100 times and logged 160 flight hours.