The US Air Force has exercised the Lot 5 production contract option with Raytheon Co. to produce AGM-65H/K Maverik missile guidance and control sections. The $49.7 M option includes more than 1000 tactical guidance and control sections, 35 training guidance and control sections, and pilot and maintenance training and updates to the AGN-65H/K operations supplement. Production work will occur primarily at Raytheon’s Missile System business unit in Tucson, AZ, and run through December 2005. “Maverik was used with great success in Operation Iraqi Freedom, which saw the first combat use of the new AGM-65H/K TV Maverik. This Lot 5 award, with its AGN-65H/K missiles for ‘cost of war supplemental’ replenishment, is a reflection of the confidence the Air Force has in the H/K Maverik,” said Chuck Pinney, Raytheon’s Maverik program director. “The Maverik team, at Raytheon and at the Hill Air Force base, accelerated the exercise of the Lot 5 option, including the supplemental order, to quickly provide H/K Maverik missiles to the warfighter. Raytheon has shortened the lead time and more than doubled the production rate of H/K Maverik guidance and control sections in support of our warfighters.”
“The success of the Maverik family of missiles in Operation Iraqi Freedom has generated international interest in upgrading existing TV Maverik inventories to the new H/K version. The Raytheon Maverik team, including our valued suppliers, is ready to support our international customers’ needs,” said Martin Lenzini, Maverik international program manager.
Maverik is a precision, air-to-ground missile that is used against small mobile and hard targets, armored vehicles, surface-to-air missiles (SAM) sites and high value targets such as ships, port facilities and communications centers. The missile has a launch-and-leave capability to enable the pilot to lock onto the target, launch the Maverik and then take evasive action. The charge-coupled-device (CCD) sensors used on the AGM-65H/K increases Maverik’s reliability and service life. The CCG sensor permits the AGM-65H/K to operate in lower light levels than the older TV sensors used in the current AGM-65 A and B missiles and extends the engagement range by two or three times over today’s AGM-65 A and B missiles.