US Navy awards USD1.7 billion contract to BAE Systems for APKWS laser guidance kits

BAE Systems APKWS rocket fitted to Bell 407GT Armed Scout. (Janes/Patrick Allen)

The US Navy awarded BAE Systems a USD1.7 billion contract for the production of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser guidance kits, the company announced on 10 December.

The contract contains an initial USD322 million order, up to a maximum value of USD1.7 billion.

The five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract is designed to equip US forces with up to 55,000 APKWS kits. These are intended to transform 70 mm (2.75 inch) unguided rockets into low-cost, laser-guided precision munitions for US and potentially allied forces.

“APKWS kits are available to all US armed forces, as well as allies via foreign defence sales,” Jason Petrie, director at BAE Systems, told Janes in an emailed statement on 10 December, adding that the company will be delivering the kits to the navy on a “set schedule”.

The contract enables the navy to purchase APKWS guidance kits until December 2030.

The kit-modified munitions can be fired by rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), static and mounted ground platforms, and maritime vessels.

The kit is compatible with new and existing inventories of rocket motors, warheads, and fuzes, with BAE Systems saying that APKWS kits are combat proven at creating air-to-surface, surface-to-surface, surface-to-air, and air-to-air munitions.

Saying that it has been in full-rate production with its APKWS guidance kit since at least 2013, the company cited what it called a robust supply chain through manufacturing facilities in Hudson, New Hampshire, and Austin, Texas, as helping to secure supply at scale.

For more information, please seeUkraine conflict: Norway supplying ‘laser-guided' air-defence weapons for Ukrainian F-16s .