29 May 2002
Raytheon is being awarded a $47.8 million contract to overhaul and upgrade 16 Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems to Block 1B-level and produce four additional Phalanx Block 1B upgrade kits for the US. Navy. This represents the largest dollar contract to date for upgrading the surface mode of the Phalanx. All work is to be complete by May 2004.
"This is an indication of how serious we in the US Navy are about protecting the sailors on our ships," said Capt. Albert G. Lang, Phalanx programme manager for the U. S. Navy. "Phalanx Block 1B is the best multi- mission, asymmetric threat protection we can provide."
Phalanx is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled radar and 20-mm gun system that automatically acquires, tracks and destroys enemy threats that have penetrated all other ship defense systems. More than 850 systems have been built and deployed in the navies of 21 nations. Most recently, Phalanx Block 1B was installed aboard the USS Howard (DDG-83) and the USS Bulkeley (DDG-84), the US Navy's newest Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers.
"The Block 1B surface mode, our most advanced system which adds electro- optic capability, provides unequalled capabilities in near-shore, littoral environments," said Dennis Carroll, Raytheon's Phalanx programme manager. "It provides protection to ships and their crews against an increased number of threats including small, fast gunboats; standard and guided artillery; helicopters; mines and a variety of shore- launched, anti-ship missiles." http://defence-data.com/current/page14657.htm