ABU DHABI—Raytheon and the U.S. Army are in talks with potential export buyers of the Coyote counter-drone system, says Joe DeAntona, the company’s vice president for land and air defense system requirements.
“The demand signal is real,” with the focus now on working to turn conversations into contract opportunities, he said at the IDEX 2025 defense expo here in Abu Dhabi. The U.S. Army has fielded Coyote under its LIDS program—for Low, slow, small, unmanned aircraft Integrated Defeat System.
The RTX unit has been investing to boost output of Coyote interceptors in anticipation of orders. “We need to get in front of this,” DeAntona said.
The Russia-Ukraine war and the conflict in the Middle East have intensified demand for air and missile defense systems.
DeAntona also said Raytheon is getting close to delivering the first Amraam-ER missiles for use on the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (Nasams). Raytheon is a partner on the program, developed originally by Kongsberg.
Nasams originally was fielded with surface-launched baseline Amraam air-to-air missiles but has evolved to also include ground-launched AIM-9X missiles. The impending addition of the extended-range Amraam is largely aimed at the Hawk replacement market.
The Nasams team launched the Amraam-ER program a decade ago by combining the guidance section of an AIM-120C Amraam with the 10-in.-dia. booster rocket.
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