Raytheon has signed a contract for 42.8 million pounds to deliver five Phalanx Block 1B Close-In Weapon Systems to the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence starting in 2013. Installation and in-service support will be provided by Babcock Marine.

"Phalanx provides unparalleled ship self-defense to fleets operating in blue water as well as littoral environments," said Rick Nelson, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Naval and Area Mission Defense product line.

"Thanks to its array of sensors, Phalanx brings a proven solution against threats launched from land, sea or air."

Phalanx is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled radar and 20 mm gun system that automatically acquires, tracks and destroys enemy threats that have penetrated all other ship defense systems.

More than 890 systems have been built and deployed in the navies of 25 nations.

"The addition of these five systems underpins the Royal Navy's Fleet 2020 capability plans and significantly increases ship self-defense to crews and ships," said Paul Gilligan, head of strategic programs for Raytheon UK, the U.K. subsidiary of Raytheon Company.

"The constant evolution of the threat demands the most successful and reliable method of protection, which Phalanx provides."

War-tested Protection
+ Extremely high reliability thanks to years of development, testing and design improvements.

+ Provides target designation for other shipboard weapons.

+ Autonomous assessments of all threats from detect to destroy.