BAE nets $2.7B for APKWS guidance units for rocket upgrades

BAE Systems was awarded a $2.7 billion contract by the Navy for Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems II upgrades, pushing the program into full-rate production.

The contract, announced Wednesday, will procure WGU-59/B units to upgrade the current 2.75-inch rocket system to a semi-active laser-guided precision that support Navy, Army and Air Force.

The award also includes foreign military sales for the governments of Australia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Netherlands, Jordan, Philippines, Tunisia and United Kingdom.

The APKWS guidance kit converts an otherwise unguided 2.75-inch rocket into a weapon with semi-active laser-guided precision.

The rocket is capable of being fired from more than 20 different fixed- and rotary-wing platforms. These platforms include the widely used AH-64D/E Apache, AH-1W/Z Super Cobra and Viper, and UH-60L/M Black Hawk helicopters, as well as the F-16 Fighting Falcon, A-10 Thunderbolt and AV-8B Harrier aircraft.

According to BAE, APKWS rockets have over a 93 percent hit rate.

In February, BAE won a previous contract for $225 million to provide the same APKWS upgrades for the Defense Department.

Work on the new contract will be performed in New Hampshire and Texas, and is expected to be completed by December 2025.

Related Links
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