This quarter's Technology Today features Raytheon's effector technologies and adjacent markets within its Missile Systems business. Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS) has nearly 11,400 employees at its Tucson headquarters, with 800 more at facilities in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Kentucky and New Mexico. Sales for 2007 totaled $5 billion.
Raytheon leads the world in design, development and production of missile systems, but it is also expanding into adjacent markets such as directed-energy weapons, space vehicles, autonomic tracking and response systems, and network-enabled effectors.
"Adjacent markets represent opportunities for increased business through application of our core capabilities and technologies in new mission areas," explained Don Uhlir, RMS Engineering's technology director. "This can be a low-risk, high-payoff opportunity, if we effectively leverage what we have already developed."
RMS has achieved its huge success mainly by "putting energy on target." Until recently, that expression referred to missiles that delivered chemical or kinetic energy. But RMS has added electromagnetic energy effectors with the advent of its laser and microwave directed-energy weapons.
This issue's first feature article explains Raytheon's development of the vision, architecture, and technology demonstrations for the net-centric environment desired by the Department of Defense. Resulting technology innovations include the Netted Element Weapons Service™ (NEWS) and Netted Effects (NetFx) Service.
The second article describes RMS' pilot program for validating this net-enabled-effectors vision. It links a netted version of the Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD™) to airborne and ground-based nodes in a joint coalition military exercise. This will be the world's first network-centric weapon system.
The third feature discusses how information technology is a key element in Raytheon's drive to expand its core effects market and expand into adjacent markets. RMS' Innovation and Technology Directorate identifies, develops and champions technology research to make Raytheon a leader in net-centric systems.
The fourth article presents four Raytheon directed-energy systems. The company is among the leaders in key directed-energy disciplines: high-power radio-frequency systems, solid-state lasers, weapon system integration and production, and mission analysis.
The fifth feature introduces Raytheon's new Autonomic Tracking and Response System (ATaRS), which wirelessly reports the condition and location of containerized assets. ATaRS anticipates and streamlines maintenance, repair and overhaul events. This mitigates warranty claims and increases product availability as well as mission support and supply-chain efficiency. The system opens potentially huge new commercial and military markets adjacent to the company's core missile products.
The last article summarizes RMS' extension of Raytheon's technologies and manufacturing capabilities into the adjacent market for space products. As nations develop their next-generation spacecraft, RMS has made a long-term commitment to this market. It includes substantial collaboration among Raytheon businesses, aligning internal research and development efforts with NASA's needs, and investing in proposal development.
