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The U.S.-based business of Italy’s Avio has received a potential $26 million order from Raytheon to continue engineering work on the Mk 104 solid rocket motor (SRM) as a potential alternative source for the second-stage propulsion system that powers the company’s Standard Missile family.
The funding will take the engineering work through Avio’s critical design review (CDR) of the dual-thrust SRM, procurement of long-lead materials to qualify the motor, and bolster capacity for the company to speed production, RTX’s [RTX] Raytheon unit said on Wednesday.
Raytheon in July 2024 said it had awarded Avio a contract to conduct system engineering on the company’s existing SRM technology to meet Raytheon’s defense needs (Defense Daily, July 24, 2024).
A Raytheon spokesperson said the goal is to conduct the CDR “as soon as possible,” and if successful, move into qualification and production.
Raytheon and Avio previously completed System Requirements and Preliminary Design Reviews of the motor.
Aerojet Rocketdyne, a business segment of L3Harris Technologies [LHX], is currently the incumbent supplier of the 13.5-inch diameter Mk 104 for the Standard Missiles, which are used by the Navy for various air defense missions.
“This purchase order represents an important step in expanding our supply chain to ensure the resilience and availability of the Mk 104 rocket motor,” Barbara Borgonovi, president of naval power at Raytheon, said in a statement. “By strategically implementing second sourcing for critical materials, we are not only enhancing our ability to meet customer demand but also strengthening our production capacity for the Standard Missile franchise.”
SRMs are seen as bottleneck in rapidly increasing production of missiles and munitions for the Defense Department.
The Navy previously awarded U.S. startups Ursa Major and X-Bow Systems contracts to design Mk 104 SRMs to potentially be alternative motor suppliers for the Standard Missile (Defense Daily, April 30, 2024).
