Maverick missiles for UK's Harrier GR7

The UK has decided to procure the Maverick Missile System from Raytheon Company for the Harrier GR7, following the satisfactory conclusion of trials. The announcement follows the Treasury's injection of £200 million from the Reserve to help meet pressures on the defence budget.

In particular, the procurement is aimed at addressing the main equipment lessons learned from Kosovo, where combat operations confirmed that precision guided munitions with low collateral damage are a key requirement in the missions that the RAF now undertake in support of peace-keeping operations.

"Raytheon teams have been working closely with the RAF to provide a rapid response to this urgent requirement," said Raytheon Chairman and CEO, Dan Burnham. " Maverick is a very sophisticated and cost effective weapon that is kept at the leading edge of capability through continual investment in new technologies."

Maverick is an off-the-shelf precision guided missile that will greatly improve the pilot's capability and flexibility to attack both mobile and static targets by day and by night. Over 65,000 missiles have been produced to date with 14,000 launched including 5,300 in Desert Storm and 800 in Allied Force. During these conflicts, Maverick achieved a 93% success rate.

Trials carried out to date on the GR7 have gone well and Raytheon is confident of a successful outcome of the remaining trials. The company expects to provide the RAF with an operational capability by the end of the year.

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