On Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense said that BAE Systems, Information and Electronics Systems Integration Inc. from New Hampshire is awarded $10,8 million order for the upgrade of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) guidance section.
“This delivery order provides for non-recurring tasks to combine the Rotary Wing APKWS II and the Fixed Wing APKWS II Guidance Sections into one hardware and software solution,” said in a statement.
Also, Department of Defense added that work will be performed in Hudson, New Hampshire (93 percent); and Austin, Texas (7 percent), and is expected to be completed in April 2021.
According to BAE Systems, the APKWS rocket is one-third of the cost and one-third of the weight of the existing inventory of laser-guided weapons, and is the only Department of Defense fully qualified guided 2.75-inch rocket that uses semi-active laser guidance technology to strike soft and lightly armored targets in built-up and confined areas. BAE Systems designed the APKWS technology to fill the gap between the Hellfire missile and unguided rockets. The company produces the mid-body guidance kit, which changes a standard unguided rocket into a precision laser-guided missile.
More than 100 of the APKWS rockets have been fired in action in Afghanistan since the Marines first deployed the weapon in March 2012. None of the APKWS rockets fired has missed its target due to failure after launch.
The APKWS rocket is qualified on the AH-