Raytheon announced Wednesday that it is upgrading the target location accuracy and high-definition imaging of its Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems. “This is an important upgrade for our Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems family of sensors as we continue to provide high-performance, state-of-the-art technology for the warfighter,” said Tim Carey, Raytheon’s vice president for intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance systems. MTS is a turreted or forward-looking pod that contains an electro-optical and infrared full-motion video camera system enabling long-range surveillance and high-altitude acquisition, tracking, and laser designation. The upgrades will allow for more accurate targeting, the company said. A host of platforms including Air Force MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft and C-130-based special-mission aircraft carry MTS, which surpassed one million operational flight hours in August, according to the company.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…