Raytheon advancing cruise missile capabilities: A new passive seeker for Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles has been put through a captive flight test by Raytheon, the company said on Monday.
The multi-function processor, developed by Raytheon using its own funding, will enable the missile to navigate to and track moving targets that are emitting radio frequency signals.
Besides Tomahawk, the processor could be used in other sophisticated weapon systems.
For the test, a T-39 aircraft was fitted with a Tomahawk with its nosecone equipped with passive antennas integrated with the new modular processor. The passive seeker and processor received signals from targets in a high-density electromagnetic environment while the plane flew at different altitudes.
Raytheon said an active seeker test with the processor inside a Tomahawk nosecone is planned for early next year and will show its ability to broadcast active radar as well as passively receive target electromagnetic information.
