DoD awards Laser Maverick guidance kit contract

[Zarvan]

A Boeing F/A-18C Hornet seen returning to the deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) following a sortie against the Islamic State. The aircraft is seen carrying a Maverick missile on its outboard underwing pylon. Source: US Navy
The US Air Force (USAF) and US Navy (USN) are to acquire 490 AGM-65L/E2 Laser Maverick air-to-surface missile guidance kits under a USD49.9 million contract announced on 28 September.

Awarded by the Department of Defense (DoD) the day prior to the announcement, the contract will see Raytheon deliver the guidance control sections (GCSs) by 26 December 2018.

This latest award for GCSs follows on from contracts awarded in September and October 2014 for more than 500 such missiles for the USN. Both the USAF and USN are going through their stocks of Laser Maverick missiles (designated AGM-65L by the air force and AGM-65E2 by the navy) at an increased rate, given their extensive use against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The AGM-65L/E2 differs from the other Maverick variants in that it is fitted with a new frontal guidance and control section. As the remainder of the missile is common across all variants, the laser-guided variant can be easily assimilated into existing stocks. Both the AGM-65L and AGM-65E2 are fitted with a 300 lb-class blast/fragmentation penetrator warhead.

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