Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems is working with the United Arab Emirates to equip a line of armored vehicles with laser-guided rockets.
In collaboration with Abu Dhabi-based NIMR Automotive, Raytheon will fit its Talon Laser Guided Rockets onto NIMR armored vehicles, the company announced at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi.
The Talon guidance section fits directly to the front of the legacy 2.75-inch Hydra-70 unguided rocket, using digital semi-active laser guidance and a control kit co-developed with the Emirates.
Using a Raytheon-made remote weapons station, each vehicle will carry 16 Talon rockets, the company said.
A remote weapon station enables Talon to be fired from both stationary and moving vehicles, while an elevated sensor and laser target designator enables the rockets to be fired from concealed positions, Raytheon said.
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The project demonstrates the Talon’s versatility, Michelle Lohmeier, Raytheon vice president of land warfare systems, said in prepared remarks.
“The mobile and fixed firing modes enhance the vehicle’s effectiveness and provide a significant advantage over existing heavy artillery,” NIMR CEO Fahad Saif Harhara said.
The project to arm the NIMR — Arabic for “tiger” — with Talon rockets is the latest in a series of international partnerships for Raytheon.
In 2014, Raytheon began full-rate production of the Talon for the UAE armed forces under a $117 million contract announced in September.
Other recent Raytheon partnerships in the region include one with Abu Dhabi Ship Building to provide the UAE Navy with the Rolling Airframe Missile and the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, both ship-defense weapons.
In 2009, a team led by BAE Systems won a contract to develop laser-guided rocket kits for the U.S. military, after a technology competition that included Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.
