ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL'S Tactical Systems division is to assemble millimetre-wave-radar seekers for Loral Vought Systems' Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) air-defence missile at a new site under construction at its Duluth, Georgia, factory.
The site will house seeker integration and final-assembly areas and two anechoic chambers where acceptance testing of the systems will be performed.
The chambers will replicate the noise-free environment at the high altitude in which the missile seeker will be operated, Rockwell says.
The hit-to-kill PAC-3 was selected by the US Army in 1994 to upgrade the Raytheon Patriot surface-to-air-missile system to counter tactical ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. Rockwell is developing the seeker under a 42-month contract from Loral.
In the PAC-3's terminal phase, the radar seeker will be used to acquire and lock on to the target, providing data to the onboard guidance system to steer the missile to a direct hit. Guided flight tests are scheduled to begin in 1997, Rockwell says.
Source: Flight International