Last Updated: 10/21/2009*

Raytheon Innovation Supports Korea’s Future Technology Requirements

Mike Henchey

Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems is participating in the Seoul Air Show, which is being held October 20-25 in Seoul, Korea. SAS Vice President for International Strategy and Business Development Mike Henchey answers questions about SAS’ opportunity in Korea.

Q: What kinds of products and technologies is the Korean government and Republic of Korea Air Force interested in?
Henchey: The Korean government, like many of our international customers, is currently looking to modernize its military technology to ensure they are well positioned to be effective in the battlespace of the future. Raytheon has been working closely with the ROKAF, the government and other in-country stakeholders to help them identify their most critical requirements. As a leading provider of sensor systems giving customers the most accurate and timely actionable information for the network-centric battlefield, we believe Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems is well positioned to deliver innovative solutions to the Korean customer.

Specific areas Raytheon SAS believes it can offer expertise:

AESA (active electronically scanned array) Radar: Raytheon is a world leader in providing advanced, multi-role AESA radars that deliver unsurpassed simultaneous, air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities along with superior detection, targeting, tracking and self-protection features.

If the Korean government or ROKAF were to determine they required the technology to ensure their fighter aircraft remain at the cutting edge of combat capability, Raytheon currently has the only F-16-sized AESA radar approved for export. It is designed to drop into Block 52s and earlier version F-16s with minimal downtime. During a recent fit check on an F-16 at the Edwards Air Force base, the team installed the radar in under an hour.

Based on proven F/A-18 and F-15 AESA technology, Raytheon’s flexible, modular approach will keep F-16 customers combat relevant for years to come.

Integrated Fighter and Electronic Warfare: As America and its allies face complex, varied and asymmetrical threats, the need to keep air forces equipped with the latest technology is becoming ever more critical.

As a leader in the arena of electronic warfare and in integrating sophisticated systems and other key sensors such as AESA, Raytheon is able to provide demonstrated superior performance through integrated and fully interoperable systems. That is made possible by decades of experience in each of the sensor systems. Consequently, Raytheon is able to keep customers ahead of the technology curve to ensure mission success.

Raytheon offers a host of sophisticated products and capabilities – from AESA radars, radar warning receivers and aircraft self-protection systems to the latest in electronic jammers – allowing our customers to control the battlespace. No other company can provide the breadth and depth of integrated avionics and secure processing to equip the warfighter of today…and of tomorrow.

Raytheon’s advanced suite of EW equipment provides a secure electronic shield against anti-aircraft missiles and threat fire control radars. The fully-integrated and internally-mounted system is comprised of a jammer, radar warning receiver and chaff/flare dispensers. The in-production system has been proven in tests, exercises, and operational deployment on Hellenic Air Force F-16s and was recently awarded a contract for the Royal Moroccan Air Force, making it a low-risk, low-cost solution, ideally suited for Korea.

Global Hawk: Raytheon’s unmatched sensor technology aboard the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft provides high-resolution, multi-spectrum imagery of regions that can be used for a number of applications, from environmental to homeland security and combat missions.

With more than 25,000 combat hours and 1,000 missions, Global Hawk has proven its ability to deliver time-critical, actionable information to commanders. The platform’s ability to provide high altitude, long endurance unmanned aerial reconnaissance of large geographic areas has made it a proven asset in theater.

Raytheon developed the sophisticated sensor technology and ground support systems that provide key ISR data to military field commanders. The Raytheon Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite (EISS) system is available for both domestic and international manned and unmanned platforms.

Global Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR): Through our mission systems integration experience, Raytheon is able to offer customized, affordable Global ISR solutions development and support – from sensors to multi-system integration to right-size platform selection – with training and lifecycle mission support. Raytheon brings together core sensing and integration capabilities, keeping our worldwide customers responsive and relevant in an environment of constantly evolving threats.

Raytheon’s Global ISR solutions can be integrated into customer platforms of choice. Currently, we provide ISR solutions on a variety of platforms such as the high-altitude Sentinel and Global Hawk aircraft, as well as business jet platforms and agile, tactical special mission aircraft like the King Air 350.

The need for Global ISR solutions exceeds traditional military mission requirements with growing emphasis on port and border security, economic and environmental zone surveillance, and mineral and national resource protection.

Q: What current programs does Raytheon have in Korea?
Henchey: Over the past decade, Raytheon has executed a significant level of business in Korea, both in terms of providing solutions and solidifying our industry partnerships. Korea is currently one of Raytheon’s top five international markets, so we anticipate our business to increase in the coming years depending on the customers’ emerging requirements.

Currently, Raytheon is working with Korea on several missile programs, including the combat-proven Patriot program, the world’s most sophisticated long-range, high-altitude, all-weather air and missile defense system. We are also in production on the APG-63(V)1 radar for Korea’s F-15K aircraft, providing the customer a path towards an AESA radar upgrade capability should they choose to move in that direction.

Q: Which markets have the most potential for Raytheon in Asia?
Henchey: Raytheon is looking at a number of opportunities in Asia, which include markets in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, India and Singapore. The Asian region, like many other regions of the world, has sophisticated customers who understand the value of acquiring advanced technologies to keep their forces combat relevant and able to address future threats.

Q: What discriminates your technology from other companies
who also have expertise in the space and airborne arena?
Henchey: Raytheon is known as an innovative company that has a heritage of providing cutting edge technology solutions for customers around the world.

We are committed not only to supporting our customers current needs but to ensuring that our solutions remain viable well into the future. A relevant example for Korea is our continuous improvements to our advanced radars, providing unmatched combat relevance coupled with significantly reduced life cycle and costs.

Raytheon’s domain expertise across multiple disciplines, including mission systems integration, allows us to effectively partner with our customers to develop the specific solutions that most effectively meets their needs.

For more information on SAS technology, go to http://www.raytheon.com/businesses/rsas/.

 

SHARE CONTENT

* The content on this page is classified as historical content. See this important information regarding such content.