RTX wins $118 million Army order for drone target sensors

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army tapped RTX, until recently known as Raytheon Technologies, for a batch of advanced targeting sensors destined for installation aboard drones.

The order for the Common Sensor Payload Version 3, or CSP v3, is worth as much as $118 million and stems from a previous indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity arrangement, according to an announcement from the service’s Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors.

The sensor packages are typically fitted to MQ-1C Gray Eagle uncrewed aircraft. The General Atomics-made drone can carry multiple payloads, including synthetic aperture radar, communications relays and missiles.

The latest edition of sensing tech will feature “several enhancements over the previous version,” Dennis Teefy, project director for sensors-aerial intelligence at PEO IEW&S, said in a June 21 statement.

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“It will have an improved camera with short-wave infrared capabilities, which will enable better resolution in low-light scenarios,” he said. “It also addresses hardware obsolescence in the current CSP Version 2 to ensure sustainment can continue well into the future.”

RTX is the second largest defense contractor in the world when ranked by revenue, according to Defense News analysis.

The company rolled out its new three-letter moniker, matching its stock-market ticker, earlier this week. The rebrand coincided with news that Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary, would take control of about $2.7 billion in Joint All-Domain Command and Control work.