Raytheon gets $3.3 billion contract for Patriot missiles from UAE

Raytheon Co. has won a contract valued at $3.3 billion from the Middle East nation of United Arab Emirates (UAE) for its Patriot missiles.

The contract has been in the works reportedly for over a year, wherein Raytheon's Integrated Defence Systems unit and Lockheed Martin Corp. worked with the governments of US and UAE to shape it. The US government is reported to have approved the foreign military sale of Patriot GEM-T and Lockheed PAC-3 missiles.

Raytheon will also provide support and training as per the agreement. The company had establised its first office in the UAE in 1983, and started delivering and supporting the medium range Hawk air defence system to the country in 1987.

Reports said that work on the contract will be done at the Raytheon Integrated Air Defense Centre in Andover. Raytheon added 200 new employees to the Integrated Defense Systems facility in anticipation of winning the deal, media relations director Jon Kasle was reported as saying. He also expects more hiring to happen in the coming year, most of them electrician and machinist jobs.

Earlier this month, Raytheon won a $10.1 million contract from the US Navy for engineering work on destroyers, and also landed a $11.8 million deal from the Navy for work on Sea Sparrow missiles. Other contracts with the US military that the company landed this month include an $8.8 million deal from the Navy for radar and electronics engineering on its newest class of destroyers, and a $77.4 million contract from the US Army to upgrade Patriot missiles.

"Patriot's advanced technology provides significant benefits in system capability, reliability, sustainability and affordability to U.S. and allied forces around the world," said Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems President Daniel Smith. "With this order, the UAE joins 11 other countries that rely upon Patriot to provide a key element of their national defence."