Raytheon Systems have today been awarded a £10m contract for in-service support for the AMRAAM missile system.
The contract is to be three years long, you can read the notice here.
Discussing their intention to award this contract to Raytheon, the Ministry of Defence said late last year:
“Air to Air Missiles (AAM), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a 15 month contract – with a 24 month option period – to Raytheon Systems Limited (RSL) for the provision of In-Service Support to the AMRAAM Systems. In accordance with EU Council Decision 255/58 (1958), this Procurement is exempt from Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 due to the AMRAAM System falling within the bounds of Warlike Stores; specifically the category of ‘bombs, torpedoes, rockets and guided missiles’ – of which AMRAAM is a guided missile.
Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is not applicable. This Contract can only be awarded to Raytheon Systems Limited on the grounds of technical reasons. Raytheon are the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Design Authority (DA) for the AMRAAM system. Raytheon are the only organisation with the technical ability, facilities, knowledge and skillset capable of providing In Service Support to the system. The anticipated value of the Contract is £10,200,000 Ex VAT.”
The AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile), also designated AIM-120, has a 30 to 40 mile range and can reach a speed of Mach 4. The system is a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile capable of all-weather day-and-night operation.
The fire-and-forget weapon employs active radar guidance and incorporates a datalink to guide the missile to a point where its active radar turns on to intercept the target.
F-35 and Typhoon jets can both launch this missile.
Possibly a silly question but why does the UK still need to follow EU regulations when placing a contract.
“specified retained EU law”
I Would Assume that some of the support to be EU based, have the same issues when now dealing with Airbus France.
is it as we were still in EU when this was first issued
Well I would like to say ‘ why bother when we have way more capable METEOR ‘, but I suppose we have to look after stocks of AMRAAM, or have another option for BVR combat?
Isn’t the f35 restricted to AMRAAM as meteor does not fit internally if I remember right?
I thought there was currently an ongoing integration going on with Meteor and Amraam onto the F-35 by the RAF and Italian airforce? They’ll either have to make the bay longer, the missile shorter and or have some stealth pylon packs on the wings.
Meteor is currently undergoing an integration program on the F35A and B. However, to fit in the B’s internal weapons bay, the tail fins have to redesigned as they are too long (tall). Lockheed Martin will not redesign the weapons bays on the B variant. The Meteor will fit on the wing pylons no problem.
Currently the F35 is only cleared for the AMRAAM internally. It is also the only current BVR missile cleared on the RAF’s Tranche 1 Typhoons. Both the 2+ and 3s are cleared for Meteor.
Yes Meteor is having its tail fins shortened in vertical length to fit the bay, the fin will be lengthened close to the missile body to preserve the total area of fin needed for manoeuvre.
when the Typhoon 1s are retired and the new Meteor is integrated onto F35 we will no longer need AMRAAN. However as we have already got a stock of the missile we might still keep them a war reserve.
Point of note its only a short contract possibly 3 years to resolve issues with any Airframes, i know an order for more AMRAAMs was canceled with the Typhoon Tranche 1 stand down
No order for Amraam’s has been cancelled. The Amraam C-5 stockpile is end of life, but instead of re-lifing them we’ve put an order in for 200 Amraam D to cover the timeframe until Meteor is integrated with F-35B.
No that is ASRAAM. Meteor is being integrated. Incidentally MBDA are working on a ‘short’ ASRAAM for Tempest / F-35 mission bays.
I Didn’t think this was going ahead as the Meteor was replacing the AMRAAM, which was going to use on the Tranche 1 Typhoons, as they cannot accept the Meteor.
short time i guess to cover the remaining capabilities
Meteor won’t be available on F-35B until 2027, it also will never work on T1 Typhoon. We have Amraam C-5 in stock at present, but these have reached end of life. Instead of re-lifing them we’re buying 200 new Amraam D to cover the interim period until Meteor is in place on all platforms.
The 120D is no sloth. Incremental improvements over the C1 to C7 have resulted in better seekers, better warheads & fuses and now boost-sustain-boost motors. The fundamental weakness is the seeker. Meteor too, hence the JNAAM. What is interesting is the changes in the C1 to C7. Had these been the 60s or 70s we would be on the AIM-120H by now. Political workaround. No new AMRAAM budget so we will call it a mod and name it the C4 etc. Bit like the Tu-22M, almost nothing in common with Tu-22 but Moscow wouldn’t aprove a “new” plane.