Vigilance can report that Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has completed the first major delivery of materials under the UAE contract.
Three test missile assets were delivered to the U.S. Government to conduct United Nations testing that supports the final hazard classification for the new production run of GEM-T missiles.
"This is a significant milestone for the UAE Patriot program," said Sanjay Kapoor, vice president for Patriot Programs at Raytheon Integrated Defence Systems (IDS). "Our focus on new-build systems and technology refreshes has led to the modernization of Patriot and reinforced its standing as the premier air and missile defence system of choice."
Raytheon IDS is the prime contractor for both domestic and international Patriot Air and Missile Defence Systems and system integrator for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles.
In another development, Vigilance learnt that the first 16 Afghan Air Force (AAF) students recently completed English-immersion training on a contract led by Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) to provide fixed- and rotary-wing pilot training for up to 80 Afghan airmen.
The students are said to be attending aviation ground school now, the second phase of the four-part pilot training program. The $42.8 million, three-year training contract supports NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan under the U.S. Army's Warfighter Field Operations Customer Support (FOCUS) contract.
"We have the right people with the right skills and talents to ensure we train individuals who are capable of transitioning Afghan's newest military service into self-sufficiency," said program manager Rick Glynn, of Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC. He leads the Warrior Training Alliance consortium of about 120 subcontractors for Warfighter FOCUS. The AAF training is being conducted by one of Raytheon's teammates in a Middle East nation.
It is said the Raytheon-led Warfighter FOCUS team is in its fourth year of delivering live, virtual and constructive training solutions that leverage proven technologies, integrated logistics support and expert engineering services for U.S. and coalition forces at more than 600 manned and unmanned locations worldwide.