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Raytheon Announces More European Weapons Deals
Denmark has signed an agreement to acquire a raft of new airborne weapons systems from Raytheon. At the same time Raytheon announces that production work is now under way for the UK Royal Navy's next-generation Tomahawk Block IV submarine-launched cruise missiles. The Danish deals are significant because they include the first export order for the Enhanced Paveway guided bomb outside the UK-and the first order for the AIM-9X Sidewinder from a NATO F-16 partner air force. Both new weapons are being implemented as part of the next capability enhancement phase in Denmark's F-16 Mid-Life Update (MLU) program. The UK is already a Tomahawk customer-the only one outside the U.S.-and its new Block IV missiles (the "Tac Tom," or Tactical Tomahawk) will give it a new level of very-long-range land attack capability.
Denmark is acquiring the Enhanced Paveway II (EPII) variant, supplementing the standard Paveway II and III bombs already in the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) inventory. The Enhanced Paveway is a dual-mode weapon that combines both laser and GPS guidance that makes the weapon more accurate and more versatile, especially in adverse weather conditions. The EPII order is noteworthy because Denmark is already a customer for Boeing's GPS-guided JDAM bomb. To date, the UK and U.S. are the only other acknowledged users of the Enhanced Paveway. The RDAF joins South Korea, Poland and Switzerland as a customer for the AIM-9X. A letter of offer and acceptance has been signed between the Danish authorities and the U.S. Navy for the supply of missiles, which will be undertaken by Raytheon. Finland is also thought to be preparing for an AIM-9X buy.
The UK has a five-year procurement contract for the 4,000-mile range Tomahawk IV, which will arm the Navy's Trafalgar- and Swiftsure-class SSKs, and the future Astute-class boats as well. The Block IV Tactical Tomahawk can be reprogrammed in flight to hit a new or updated target and can use stand-alone GPS-only navigation.
—Robert Hewson
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