Raytheon, a major U.S. defence contractor, has been awarded a $205 million modification contract to upgrade and maintain the US Navy’s MK 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapon System.

The deal covers everything from conversions to overhauls, with the estimated time of project completion being January 2029.

The Navy has relied on the Phalanx system as its last line of defence against anti-ship missiles, aircraft, and emerging littoral threats.

Also known as “CIWS” or “sea-whiz,” it is a self-contained, rapid-fire gun platform to defend warships from missiles and aircraft.

USS Coral Sea was the first to be equipped with this in 1980, and since then, the system has been regularly upgraded over the past 40 years.

What sets the system apart from other layered defences is its independent functioning, like conducting searches, detections, evaluating trajectories, real-time tracking, rapid engagement of targets, and kill assessments without the need for outside inputs.

The modern radar-guided system identifies and engages the threat automatically in the blink of an eye, making Phalanx the only fully autonomous close-in weapon in the U.S Navy.

It has undergone many upgrades, with the first ‘Block 1’ upgrade in 1988 on the USS Wisconsin.

The latest ‘Block 1B’ upgrade added a new electro-optical sensor, allowing the system to effectively tackle asymmetric threats like fast surface craft, unmanned aerial systems and helicopters.

The system weighs 13,600 pounds and mounts the M61A1 Vulcan Gatling gun, which shoots 20mm discarding sabot rounds.

The system can unleash 4,500 rounds per minute against missiles and aircraft or 3,000 rounds per minute against smaller asymmetric targets.

Each magazine holds up to 1,550 rounds.

The Phalanx system began to be produced in 1978 and, since then, has undergone many overhauls and new installations.

Raytheon, which entered the program through acquisitions of General Dynamics Pomona Division and Hughes Missile Systems, is still serving as the primary contractor.

The new modification contract shows the Navy’s interest in keeping the Phalanx as a major component of ship self-defence for another decade.

Though new missile defence systems are currently built, Phalanx is the only close-in-weapon system which can counter high-speed anti-ship missiles.

For over four decades, this system has been the U.S forces’ last line of defence, safeguarding carriers, warships, and destroyers from threats which dodge long-range missile shields.

The fact that it needed several upgrades shows the changing dynamics of naval warfare.