Raytheon Co. has been awarded a contract with a not-to-exceed value of $19.2 M by the US Navy to produce low rate initial production of Shared Reconnaissance Pod (SHARP) systems. Under this contract, Raytheon Technical Services Co. LLC will produce eight SHARP systems for delivery in 2004. Work will be performed in Indianapolis.
This award follows a $5.1 M contract award made by the US Navy in January 2003 for Raytheon to continue providing engineering and production support to the SHARP program through May 2004.
SHARP was developed by a government/industry integrated product team (IPT) composed of the US Navy, Raytheon, Boeing, Recon Optical Inc. and L-3 Communications. Raytheon designed and developed the pod to carry advanced day/night and all weather tactical reconnaissance payloads. For this contract, the Navy will provide high resolution, electro-optical/infrared sensors produced by Recon Optical Inc. and data-link systems produced by L-3 Communications, to be integrated into the SHARP system. "Raytheon is proud to be a member of the SHARP IPT that will provide our war fighters with a high resolution, digital reconnaissance capability that will increase the speed and effectiveness of reconnaissance operations," stated Bryan J. Even, a vice-president of Raytheon Co. and president of Raytheon Technical Services Co. LLC.
SHARP will soon be deployed as an early operational capability for the F/A-18F Super Hornet on the USS Nimitz. While the initial system employs EO/IR sensors for use on the F/A-18E/F aircraft, the pod is readily adaptable to many sensor payloads on a wide range of aircraft.