U.S. Special Operations Command has awarded RTX [RTX] a $321 million, multi-year contract for the “continued production and delivery” of the company’s AN/APQ-187 Silent Knight radar used by Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)on Lockheed Martin [LMT] MC-130J Commando II aircraft, DoD said on Dec. 4.
“The work will be performed primarily at contractor locations in McKinney, Texas; and Forest, Mississippi, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2028,” DoD said. “Foreign Military Sales funding of $27.5 million will be used.”
AFSOC’s Commando II aircraft provide clandestine single or multi-ship low-level aerial refueling for special operations helicopters and CV-22s, and conduct airdrops of propaganda leaflets, small special operations teams, resupply bundles, and combat rubber raiding craft.
AFSOC provides niche capabilities for the planes, including Airborne Mission Networking, data fusion, threat detection and avoidance, electronic warfare, and the integrated terrain following/terrain avoidance Silent Knight radar.
To cope with possible budget declines, the command has explored new applications for its existing aircraft, including MC-130Js’ carriage and release of palletized munitions (Defense Daily, Nov. 23, 2020).
In October last year, RTX received a more than $8 million contract that includes “software product updates and qualification testing for the CV-22 Silent Knight Radar (SKR) Joint Services Vertical Lift Aircraft Experimental (JVX) Avionics System Software (JASS) instrumentation build.”