Raytheon

Stealth wind turbines developed to avoid radar confusion

By Paul Ridden

17:50 November 3, 2009 PST

Plans for the installation of wind farms the world over are being delayed or abandoned due to objections from the aviation community or air defense interests. The problem is that when it comes to low flying aircraft or wind turbines, conventional radar has a bit of an identity crisis - not being able to tell the difference. Recent tests in the UK of "stealth" turbine technology could provide a solution. Read More

Raytheon announces improved infrared detector

By Paul Ridden

18:41 August 17, 2009 PDT

Raytheon has announced the creation of the world's largest infra-red light wave detector, the "4K by 4K" focal plane array. Not only will it allow whole hemisphere satellite monitoring at 16 megapixel resolution but it should also make sensors less dependent on the complicated scanning mechanisms used in current systems. Read More

P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance plane officially unveiled

By Gizmag Team

05:40 August 5, 2009 PDT

The U.S. Navy's new long-range maritime surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft has been officially unveiled at the Boeing facility in Renton, Washington. The P-8A Poseidon will provide anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capabilities and offers greater payload capacity and advanced software and communications over the P-3C Orion which it is scheduled to replace from 2013. Read More

The search for ice on the moon heats up

By Jeff Salton

19:58 August 2, 2009 PDT

Special sensing technology developed by Raytheon for the US Navy's miniaturized radio frequency system is aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), one of two spacecraft hoping to find photographic evidence that the polar regions of the moon contain ice. Until now, man hasn’t been able to confirm if there is ice on the moon because it is thought to exist only in permanently dark patches, or poles, on the lunar landscape – which means we haven’t been able to take detailed photos yet. NASA in particular is interested in determining the extent to which lunar ice exists, if at all, as the agency prepares for future manned exploration and possible habitation on the moon. Read More

Contracts awarded for new Space Fence system

By Jeff Salton

00:16 July 21, 2009 PDT

Is it a bird, a plane, a UFO, or a piece of space junk hurtling towards Earth minutes away from catastrophe? Hopefully, before too long we won’t have to guess. The U.S. Air Force has awarded USD$30 million contracts to defense technology specialists Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin to help create the prototype of a new situational awareness network dubbed "Space Fence". The Space Fence system will enable the Air Force to better detect, report and track very small objects in low Earth orbit. Read More

Laser detection system for unearthing hidden tunnels

By David Greig

17:15 May 10, 2009 PDT

For some time now, the Defence Department has been looking for technology that can be carried by small ground vehicles, or unmanned aircraft, to detect underground tunnel activity. This took a step closer to reality with the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency awarding the Raytheon Company a USD$19 million contract to develop a technology that detects tunnels and buried landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Read More

Boeing P-8A Poseidon lifts-off

By Noel McKeegan

03:35 April 28, 2009 PDT

Boeing's P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine and long-range surveillance aircraft has completed its first flight. In the latest development milestone for the plane scheduled to replace the P-3 Orion, the T-1 test aircraft completed a series of systems checks during three hours and 31 minutes in the skies above Seattle on April 25. Read More

The Incredible HULC: Lockheed Martin unveils exoskeleton technology

By David Greig

00:34 March 12, 2009 PDT

The use of an exoskeleton to improve the performance of humans in various situations including the military is a hot topic in the media and leads the imagination to all sorts of possibilities. It has the potential to deliver extraordinary strength and endurance to the wearer possibly changing the face of modern warfare. As part of the further development of exoskeleton technology for military scenarios, Lockheed Martin recently introduced the Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC™) exoskeleton at the Association of the United States’ Army Winter Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Read More

Raytheon and US Navy demonstrate submarine-compatible UAS

By Kyle Sherer

17:30 October 30, 2008 PDT

Raytheon and the US Navy have demonstrated unmanned aircraft system capability for submarines. The Submarine Over the Horizon Organic Capabilities (SOTHOC) program is developing a specialized UAS designed for collection of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance in a complex littoral environment. Read More

Raytheon's KillerBee UAV tested in simulated combat

By Kyle Sherer

22:21 October 2, 2008 PDT

Raytheon’s KillerBee, a 10-foot wide UAV designed for surveillance and reconnaissance, has been successfully demonstrated in a simulated combat environment. A Raytheon flight operations crew delivered the 30 pound KillerBee system to a remote location using Humvees and achieved set up and launch within 45 minutes before executing the operational scenario and retrieving the aircraft with a net-recovery system. Read More

Raytheon's robotic exoskeleton delivers super-human qualities

By Noel McKeegan

01:03 May 6, 2008 PDT

May 6, 2008 The advent of the robotic age is upon us and we can expect a huge transformation in the coming decade as robots of all shapes and sizes make their presence felt in many aspects of our lives. But robots wont just stand by our side as assistants, we'll actually climb aboard and wear them like a shell or suit of armor. This type of robot - known as an exoskeleton - is being developed in various guises that deliver extraordinary strength and endurance to the wearer and have the potential to impact on military, medical, industrial and transport arenas - anywhere that personal mobility, agility and strength is required. Raytheon's progress in the field is making headline news this week thanks in part to an intriguing article appearing in the May issue of Popular Science which makes the link between the company's ongoing research for the U.S. military and the release of the much hyped superhero flick Ironman(R). Read More

Raytheon tests bunker-busting Tandem Warhead System

By Noel McKeegan

21:06 March 23, 2008 PDT

March 24, 2008 If you're sitting behind a 20 foot thick wall of compressed, steel-reinforced concrete you could be forgiven for feeling somewhat invulnerable to outside attack - but think again. Raytheon has developed a new, lighter and more powerful bunker-busting conventional warhead system which punched through more than 19 feet of a 330-ton reinforced concrete block during tests conducted in late January. Read More

Raytheon's Cobra: compact, affordable UAV opening doors to scientific research

By Loz Blain

July 18, 2007 Unmanned air vehicles are starting to become smaller and more accessible to the scientific community, a movement that is opening doors to new paths of research and commerce worldwide. Raytheon's Cobra, for example, is a 9-foot long aircraft with a 10 foot wingspan that can be piloted by remote control or pre-programmed to take off, navigate to a series of waypoints and then land autonomously without any further human input. The Cobra recently completed a set of test flights in North Dakota, successfully trialling new systems and equipment for digital imaging and agricultural land management. Read More

Raytheon Jam-Resistant GPS Antennas

By Mike Hanlon

April 2, 2007 Raytheon’s GAS-1 jam-resistant Global Positioning System (GPS)-antenna technology seems to be going from strength to strength, and with another option conversion under its current contract with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy announced this week, more than 4000 of the units will be in operation by 2008. The system is able to recognise sources of electrical interference and by adjusting the way in which it receives the satellite signals, reject them, allowing navigation equipment to function safely, accurately and efficiently. In military use this allows operations to be carried out with greater accuracy and less risk. Raytheon claims its anti-jam system is able to track jammers and generate nulls faster than any competing system, and based on the order books, the claims appear verified. Read More