Raytheon's AIM-9x air-to-air missile in flight

The Pentagon announced Thursday it has awarded a $62 million fixed-price missile contract to Raytheon Missile Systems – and $1.75 million of the work, or 2.81 percent, will be performed in Valencia.

Woodward HRT (formerly Hydraulic Research-Textron) builds the sophisticated tail fins for Raytheon’s AIM-9x missile, and specialty electronics manufacturer Cicoil LLC supplies a cable assembly. Both are located in the Valencia Industrial Center and both get a piece of the new contract, a Raytheon spokesman in Tucson said.

The $61,869,792 fixed-price contract calls for 60 AIM-9x tactical missiles – 30 for the Navy and 30 for the Air Force – and 60 captive air training missiles, 20 for the Navy and 40 for the Air Force.

AIM-9x missile fired from an F/A-18C

The AIM-9x is a short-range, air-to-air combat missile, similar to a Sidewinder but with an improved sighting cone, smaller fins for reduced drag, and added maneuverability in Woodward HRT’s tail fins.

Also included in the contract are 60 active optical target detectors (30 Navy, 30 Air Force), along with 34 containers (14 Navy, 20 Air Force) and associated tooling.

The biggest percentage of the work, 39.85 percent, will be performed directly by Raytheon in Tucson, but as is common with Pentagon contracts, the remainder of the work is spread around the United States – and in this case Canada and Germany, as well, where 6.6 percent and 2.2 percent of the work will be performed, respectively.

The contractor is the Naval Air Systems Command in Maryland. It combines $34,539,747 in purchases for the Air Force (55.83 percent) and $27,330,045 for the Navy (44.17 percent). Contract funds do not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Raytheon is the nation’s No. 4 defense contractor by revenue and once operated a plant in Santa Clarita where it produced guided missiles.