Raytheon Company is initiating work on a contract to sustain and modernize missile defense and other strategic systems operated by the U.S. Army, combatant commands and other government agencies.

The sea-based X-band (SBX) platform that it sits on stands more than 250 feet high and displaces more than 50,000 tons. It consists of a semi-submersible oil production platform topped with the XBR.

XBR is the primary payload on the semi-submersible platform supporting the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense phase of the Missile Defense Agency Ballistic Missile Defense System.

Photo is courtesy of Raytheon.

The $600-million, three-year contract was first announced last June and a protest was withdrawn in February. Within the next 30 to 60 days Raytheon will begin accepting directions from the Army to conduct software sustainment and system engineering services for critical systems including THAAD, AN/TPY-2 radars, the Ground-Based Mid-course Defense System, the Sea-Based X-Band Radar and Upgraded Early Warning Radars.

Raytheon will use the company’s expertise in commercial software practices to speed delivery of software upgrades across the supported systems to improve them without interrupting critical missions.

Work will be conducted at the Systems Simulation, Software and Integration Directorate, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center at Redstone Arsenal. The contract is expected to directly employ approximately 800 people in the Huntsville, Ala., area and Raytheon will begin transitioning and or hiring experienced software and hardware engineers, program managers, and other professional services experts in the coming months.