Raytheon Co., one of the world’s largest defense contractors, won a $534 million contract for Horizontal Technology Integration Second Generation Forward Looking Infrared (2GF) Commander’s Independent Thermal Viewer, azimuth drive assemblies, azimuth drive armor caps and rings, spares, and engineering services.
Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 23, 2026.
The Commander’s Independent Thermal Viewer, commonly known as CITV, is a key element of the US Army’s Abrams that enables tank commanders to search and independently select new targets.
It provides the tank commander with high quality, adverse-weather viewing capability to search for additional targets while the gunner engages previously identified targets. This “hunter/killer” concept reportedly increases the Abrams’ effective fire rate by over 30 percent, thereby providing a considerable force multiplier.
Additionally, the 360-degree independent rotation permits the commander to search the scene without turret movement, adding to the tank’s survivability and providing longer silent watch operations. CITV also functions as a backup gun sight. With the CITV, the tank commander acquires the targets, rapidly relays them to the gunner, and then continues battlefield surveillance for new targets.
The U.S. Army decided to install an independent surveillance and targeting system for tank commanders during the M1A1 Block II system upgrade in the late 1980s. A $12 million contract to design and develop the CITV for the Abrams tank was awarded to Texas Instruments, now Raytheon Systems.
