Raytheon Technologies, McKinney, Texas, was awarded a $235,576,667 C-Type, multi-year procurement contract for the production and delivery of the Silent Knight Radar in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) requirements. The work will be performed in McKinney and Forest, Mississippi, and is expected to be completed by July 2025. This is a sole-source award in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. USSOCOM, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity.
The AN/APQ-174/186 Multi-Mode Radar family protects aircrew and aircraft by lowering the probability of detection by enemy forces. The AN/APQÂ-187 Silent Knight is a terrain-following / terrain-avoidance K-band radar that Special Operations Command will fit to its MH-47 and HH-47 Chinook and MH-60M Pave Hawk helicopters, MC-130H Combat Talon aircraft and CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotors. The APQ-174/186 Multi-Mode Radar (MMR) family provides terrain following and terrain avoidance for a wide variety of military aircraft.
The MMR allows safe flight down to a 100-ft set clearance at night, in adverse weather, and in high-threat environments. It lowers the probability of detection by enemy forces and increases mission success through terrain masking and minimizing time spent in threat range. It reduces risk to the aircrew and the aircraft by balancing the low-level terrain clearance altitude with flight safety considerations. The upgrade’s new capabilities and features include a color weather radar and allowance for increased turn rates.
The program is led by Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems with AIC, DRS Technologies and Rockwell Collins as principal partners. The SKR program was initiated to develop TF/TA radar for MH-47G Chinook and MH-60M Black Hawk special operations helicopters assigned to the U.S. Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (160th SOAR), nicknamed “Night Stalkers”. Later, the radar were also installed on CV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and MCÂ-130J Commando II special mission aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).
