Feds award Raytheon Canada $704M contract for new navy weapons systems
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
The Ottawa-based subsidiary will build and maintain 21 new radar-guided gun systems for use on Royal Canadian Navy support ships
OTTAWA—The federal government has handed down a major weapons system contract to the Canadian subsidiary of U.S. defence firm Raytheon Co.
Ottawa awarded the $704 million deal Jan. 26, saying it will keep 450 Canadians on the job outfitting naval support ships with new weapons systems.
Raytheon Canada Ltd.’s Close-In Weapons Systems (CIWS) are already in use on the Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigates. The latest deal will secure 21 more of the systems for the navy’s Protecteur-class joint support ships. The radar-guided gun systems are used by 24 navies around the world and are designed to protect ships from incoming missiles, small ships and aircraft.
Along with building the new systems, the contract covers maintenance on the guns for at least 10 years with options to extend the agreement.
As part of the contract, Raytheon has committed to investment in a number of research projects at small- and medium-sized Canadian in the defence and marine industry.
