ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has awarded $29.2 million contract to Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems Inc. for Lot 1 Full-Rate Production of the company’s BQM-177A subsonic aerial target.
The Naval Air Systems Command awarded the firm-fixed-price contract to Kratos for 35 BQM-177A targets along with technical and administrative data in support of its Aerial Targets Program Office, according to the Defense Department contract announcement.
The BQM-177A is the U.S. Navy’s newest subsonic aerial target. It can be used to simulate hostile aircraft or highly dynamic, high-subsonic, sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles. The target is capable of speeds in excess of 0.95 Mach and a sea-skimming altitude as low as 6.6 feet, according to the Kratos website.
The BQM-177A can carry “a wide array of internal and external payloads, including proximity scoring, identification friend or foe, passive and active radiofrequency augmentation, electronic countermeasures, infrared augmentation (plume pods), chaff and flare dispensers, and towed targets,” the website said.
Delivery of the 35 targets is expected to be completed by February 2022.
- BlueHalo to Test C-UAS System on Marine Corps JLTV - April 29, 2024
- USS George Washington Deploys to U.S. Southern Command, Eventually Headed to Japan - April 26, 2024
- SECNAV Advocates Increased Legal Immigration to Increase Shipbuilder Workforce - April 23, 2024