PAUL LEWIS /WASHINGTON DC

Decision vindicates company's acquisition strategy and deals blow to Lockheed Martin

Raytheon's strategy to leveragedifferent elements of its defence portfolio to improve competitiveness has paid dividends with the US Navy's decision to select the company to develop the Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM) as an eventual successor to the Standard SM-2 Block III/IV anti-air warfare (AAW)missile.

ERAM will combine the Standard missile body and propulsion system with an essentially off-the-shelf active seeker and guidance system from Raytheon's  AIM-120C5 AMRAAM radar-guided air-to-air missile. Raytheon and the USN are discussing the ERAM development schedule and a contract has yet to be awarded, but the plan is to have the weapon operational by 2010 using the existing Mk41 vertical launch system.

"The most exciting part of ERAM is seeing the fruits of having consolidated with Hughes and the benefits of the mergers with the cross-pollination of technology. This is a big stepping stone for Standard. AMRAAM is an active missile, while historically Standard has been a semi-active system," says Jeff McKeel, Raytheon manager, navy air and missile defence programmes.

Unlike theSM-2 series, which is reliant on the shipboard Lockheed Martin Aegis radar to illuminate targets, ERAM will be able to engage targets outside Aegis coverage such as those at low level. McKeel says combining the Standard missile and AMRAAM seeker offers "significant savings in time and schedule" compared with development of an all-new system. The decision is a setback for Lockheed Martin, which had wanted to offer its own ERAM solution.

The selection comes in the wake of series of Standard setbacks for Raytheon, with the cancellation of the SM-4 land attack missile and SM-2BBlock IVA Navy Area system for intercepting tactical ballistic missiles during the terminal phase.

McKeel says the SM-3 mid- course exoatmospheric interceptor will take over some of the Block IVA's lower-tier role and that ERAM is intended only as an AAW system.

Source: Flight International