16 Jul 13. Raytheon UK has launched a new Stand-Off Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Detection and Confirmation Technology, known as Soteria, as a vehicle mounted system. The underlying technology has been developed in the UK alongside Laser Optical Engineering Ltd, a spin out company of Loughborough University.
Bob Delorge, chief executive of Raytheon UK, commented: “Soteria is a world leading technology that demonstrates the power of innovation that can be harnessed in the UK. The system can be applied to a wide range of scenarios including minefield clearance, which remains a significant menace in various world regions, as well as in other operations such as disaster relief.”
Soteria utilizes innovative optical processing technology that gives the user an extremely high definition IED detection, confirmation and diagnosing capability, while exhibiting an extremely low false alarm rate. Soteria, from a significant stand-off distance, determines the shape, size, orientation and exact location of hidden IEDs and associated components. In the manned vehicle configuration, Soteria can confirm and diagnose threats from a safe distance to ensure maximum protection of troops and vehicles. Raytheon UK’s Soteria technology has been developed to counter the most sophisticated IEDs, and during comprehensive theatre simulated field trials was able to detect and classify the full array of explosive devices including those with low and zero metal content, which pose the biggest problems for current technologies such as ground penetrating radar. Being completely agnostic to target makeup, Soteria gives the flexibility to be used against new threats in future theatres of war.

18 Jul 13. Raytheon delivers AN/TPY-2 radar cooling equipment unit to MDA. Raytheon has handed over a crucial cooling equipment unit (CEU) of the US forces’ Transportable Radar Surveillance-2 (AN/TPY-2) radar to the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA), more than 14 months ahead of the original schedule. The CEU delivery will provide the agency with a deployment-ready AN/TPY-2 radar system to help counter more than 6,300 ballistic missiles outside of US, Nato, Russian and Chinese control. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems business Global Integrated Sensors vice-president David Gulla said the AN/TPY-2 radar serves as a critical element in the protection against the growing ballistic missile threat. (Source: army-technology.com)

16 Jul 13. A recent international contract brings Raytheon Company’s awards for uncooled thermal systems for allied countries to more than $75m over the last 12 months. Under the contracts, Raytheon will deliver PhantomIRxr® bioculars, thermal weapon sights and driver’s
vision enhancer (DVE) systems. The company’s uncooled advanced thermal detector technology enables forces to detect, recognize and positively identify threats, with rugged and extremely light PhantomIRxr bioculars and thermal weapon sights for engagement of targets equally in day or night, in smoke or fog. Tracked and wheeled vehicles equipped with Raytheon’s DVE provide 24-hour maneuvering capability, including full vehicle mobility in battlefield fog and haze.

16 Jul 13. Raytheon Company, acting through its Missile Systems business, and Chemring Group are finalizing plans to conduct a live missile firing of the multirole CENTURION® launcher at the Defence Training Estate on Salisbury Plain during the fourth quarter of 2013.
“Our plan is to launch a missile to help prove our capability against a
maneuvering surface threat such as a fast, swarming attack craft,” said Rick Nelson, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems’ Naval and Area Mission Defense product line. “Chemring’s CENTURION® launcher, coupled with a number of Raytheon’s combat-tested missiles, brings an entirely new dimension to ship self-defense to provide a sea-based, inside-the-horizon platform protection system.”
The solution to counter fast inshore attack craft consists of a variety of Raytheon