Raytheon Awarded $621M Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle Contract
Justin Siken06/07/2023
Contract Award Defense
HigherGov
Raytheon Awarded $621M EKV Sustainment Contract
The Missile Defense Agency has awarded a five-year $621.4 million contract to Raytheon for the upkeep of equipment, facilities, and staff necessary to transport, test, upgrade, and repair existing Exo-atmospheric Kill Vehicles (EKVs) in the Ground-Based Interceptors (GBI) fleet. An initial task order worth $84.3 million was issued along with the contract.
Overview of EKV Sustainment
The Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, manufactured by Raytheon, defends against long-range ballistic missiles by neutralizing them while still in space. The EKV features an infrared seeker guidance system and propulsion package that enables it to intercept re-entry vehicles at almost hypersonic speeds during the midcourse phase of the missile’s ballistic trajectory. The EKV relies on kinetic energy to destroy ballistic missiles rather than traditional warheads.
The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program is currently maintaining 44 EKV-equipped Ground-Based Interceptors (GBI) until they are replaced by the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) in 2030.
Under this contract, Raytheon will provide ongoing maintenance of the EKV fleet including maintaining the necessary equipment, facilities, and personnel required to transport, test, upgrade, and repair all current variants of EKVs throughout the program.
The contract also encompasses obsolescence management to address dwindling component sources and ensure that government retains its capability to maintain, upgrade, and repair the EKV.
Additionally, Raytheon will conduct Service Life Extension Program EKV upgrades, software improvements, flight testing support as well as ground test reachback support and cybersecurity compliance.
Future of the EKV
Per the new contract's sole source justification, the contract will also cover additional GBIs being manufactured with a Capability Enhancement (CE)-II Block 1 EKV/Configuration 2 boost vehicle configuration to augment the in-service fleet. The exact number of new supported interceptors is redacted in the justification but was previously announced to be 20.
This sustainment extension contract was necessitated due to the cancellation of the Boeing / Raytheon Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) project that was expected to replace the EKV by 2025 but was put on indefinite pause in 2019 following delays and performance issues.
Additional EKV sustainment contracts will likely be required as this contract is only set to last until 2028 (with task orders potentially through 2034), two years before the first expected deliveries of the Next Generation Interceptor.
Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle
MDA
